Fire Fight
by FoxHunt5
Summary: Felix needed purpose. Indigo wanted to make things better. Raven desired a challenge. Eskay was made an irrefusable offer. Individually, they would never have a future. As a team, they could change the world. But first they had to change themselves. REWRITE!
1. I'm Falling Skywards

**Welcome, one and all, to the unveiling of my newest story, which is also technically my oldest story!**

 **See, about a year ago, I entered this site with a half-written RWBY fanfiction, with an all-original team of OCs.**

 **It didn't fly.**

 **So, for a combined anniversary for joining , Christmas, and New Years, I have re-written and re-formatted the entire story. And, to be honest, I think this is a lot better than the original. Certainly longer. One of the longest I've written to date. And of course, it has a few references in it. Additionally, if someone finds a... particular quote, they not only get to alter the story, they will instantly have me as their lifelong friend, and I will do almost anything they ask of me. Good luck.**

 **Also, like the previous incarnation of this story, I dedicate this to UknownHero, Cardinal67, and O-Elf-Sama (again, ElfCollaberator). However, I also would like to mention H'te Rarpee, Ziirroh, Mr. Nobody or YARN (Formerly known as You Are Right... NOT), Hysterical Clerical Hijinks, The Hero of The Found, LaughingLefou, Maxaro, Lonely (The Lonliest of All), aaaaaaaaaaaaand last but not least, Cybertramon001. You are all wonderful authors, and without you to inspire me, I would have left this site long ago. I just love you all so much!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. If it were otherwise, I would use Hysterical Clerical Hijinks' explanation of Faunus heritage and biology.**

 **ON TO THE SHOW!**

* * *

 **Edit: This story also goes out to its first reviewer, who is, at the moment, anonymous. To the Guest in question, thank you for your input. It's nice to see someone finally be grammatically correct and deep-cutting insults. Good show, dear Guest!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1:** (I Feel) I'm Falling Skywards

The Fox Faunus slammed an empty mug on the rickety counter. "And sho then it turned out I washn't _good_ enough fer Atlus! Nooo, they tod me to go to _Bacon_."

"Bacon?" Some other barfly glanced at the drunk Faunus. "You mean… _Beacon_ , right Felix?"

The fox boy, Felix, waved his hand dismissively. "Egh, sure." He spat. "Damn racists Atlesians. Too prej'diced t'give me a chance." Atop his head, two crimson fox ears twitched.

Another patron, Jeff or something, turned to the drunk Huntsman in training. "Well, Beacon's not all that bad, from what I hear. You might enjoy yourself there."

Felix groaned. "Why would I wanna do that?"

Jeff grinned. "Well, I hear it's a veritable assortment a' some of the most attractive-and _eligible_ -young ladies in the world."

The Faunus stared at him blankly. "Say what now?"

Jeff smacked him playfully on the arm. "I'm saying it's a school of babes, you dummy!"

The 'dummy' in question perked up. "Really? If that's the case…" Reaching an internal decision, he raised someone else's mug. "Screw it, Ima go to Beacon!"

Jeff smacked his own mug against Felix's. "To Beacon!"

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

"...And so, in recognition of her valor and fortitude in the field of battle, I am proud to present the Crimson Cross to Miss Indigo Allisandra." A grey-haired man led his audience in a round of applause as the young woman in question had her medal pinned to her chest.

Indigo, unbothered by the usual pomp and circumstance of the occasion, was dressed in a dark purple v-neck, bluish-black jeans, black combat boots, grey fingerless gloves, and a scuffed-up denim jacket. The only items she removed for the ceremony were her navy-blue cloak and her customary array of pouches.

And yet, as the aged man pinned the prestigious symbol on her shirt, Indigo seemed to radiate formality and class.

"Furthermore," the speaker continued, "now that you are 17, we have granted your request to leave Camp Epsilon to enroll in a Huntsman Academy."

Allisandra nodded. She had spent the past few nights reading reviews on all four major academies, ever since her birthday.

"With the Crimsonite Cross," the man added, "any academy you choose will be happy to accept you. The choice, of course, is yours." He stepped back, and Indigo took his place behind the pedestal.

The young Huntress inhaled. "Thank you, sir." She gazed over her collective peers. "I will be brief. I entered this camp years ago. But now, it's time for me to begin a new chapter in my life. After putting a lot of thought into it, I have made my final decision."

She smiled. "And my decision is Beacon."

The crowd erupted into applause. It was well-deserved.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

 _I just don't get humans. I really don't._ Raven popped a full vial of Red 7 Dust into a mallet and slammed it onto the still-hot blade of her current project.

 _They say that I'm false, then call me vermin. Then, the minute they need a weapon patched up, I'm a bloody icon._

Raven shook her head and dunked the project in a water barrel.

"Hey, Erom! You done with Gav's commission yet?"

 _Speak of the devil._ Raven threw on a fake smile. "I'm done with the sword, but I'm not sure if I can call it a commission when I'm doing it…" she made finger guns. "For _FREE_."

Raven heard a groan. "How long have you been waiting to make that joke?"

" _Way_ too long," she replied. She passed her work through a mailslot-looking hole in the door. "So whaddya think, Mikey?"

"Better than your joke," he responded.

"Perfect beyond imagining, then." Raven hit the lights and opened the door. She closed it behind her fast enough that only a wisp of steam escaped. She raised a finger in mock scolding. "And remember Michael; don't open this door for _at least_ an hour. We wouldn't want to have another sprinkler incident, now would we?"

Michael groaned. "I swear to Dust, I only opened the door that one time to check up on you! _And_ it was three months ago! You don't have to bring it up every time we're at the Forge."

"Safety first, Mikey. I'd hate for you to get hurt," Raven chided as she tried to work out a particularly stubborn knot in her shoulder.

The two of them walked away from the forge. "Yeah, that would probably ruffle your feath-"

"Heard it before," Raven interrupted.

Michael chuckled. "Alright, how about something you've _never_ heard before."

His partner stretched a pair of black wings on her back. "Try me."

He chuckled once more. "Well, if you haven't heard, you're getting shipped out. How's that for new?"

Raven blinked. "I what now?"

"You're getting transferred," Michael laughed. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Raven had stopped walking. He patted her arm. "You really didn't know, did you?" The young man took her stunned silence as an answer. "See, the higher-ups decided last week that you would be more… helpful to Crimsonite Camps as a Huntress than as a Settler." He offered his compatriot a warm smile. "By this time tomorrow, you'll be off to Beacon."

Raven slowly exhaled. So, that was it, then. As long as it was, this chapter of her life was over. As one door closes, another opens, right? She didn't know how to feel. Excited, that she would see the world beyond Drake? Anxious, for fear of leaving her home after so long? Scared, that this might be a horrible decision? She heard someone talk. "Will I still be able to fly?" Wait, was that her?

"No need for subtlety at a school made to train warriors," Michael was pointing out.

Probably excited, then. Raven winced internally, but put on a grin that was almost real. "Well, while I have no idea just _how_ you'll survive without me" -Michael snorted- ""If the boss says that I have to go, then go I will."

"Atta girl." Michael's Scroll rang. "Hello?" He listened for a second, then passed it to Raven. "It's for you," he smiled.

* * *

 _Meanwhile..._

And then there was another.

He sat, barely moving, in a circular room. His eyes were focused on an assortment of gears and pulleys lying in front of his crossed legs. He carefully set a miniscule switch-no larger than a sewing needle-into a black tube, then screwed a lid onto it.

He held the completed item-a gleaming silver backsword-before his scrutinizing eye. He flicked a switch on the pommel, and a hollow cylinder dropped out. He pulled an identical one from the floor and slid it into the handle. The blade began glowing yellow. He swiped it, sending streaks of electricity through the air.

He turned and faced a wall of targets, drawing an identical blade from a sheath at his waist. The swordsman aimed the twin weapons at the outermost bullseyes. He pulled the pommel triggers and the targets exploded in a flash of yellow. He took aim at the next set and fired. Those too were decimated by his attack.

When he reached the final target, the man flipped another switch on his swords and flicked his wrists. The blades of the swords hinged open near the tips, folding back on themselves. He pulled the triggers, and everything around the target was blown into pieces.

The weaponsmith flicked the blades back on and ejected the spent cartridges. He opened his mouth and spoke to nobody but himself.

"Satisfactory."

As he sheathed the swords, the buzz of a Scroll could be heard from his pocket. He answered it.

"Operative James."

"Eskay, it's Vincent. Director Crimsonite has a… unique contract to offer you."

The young man, Eskay, began clearing away the unused pieces of machinery. "Unique in what way?"

"It'll be longer than any you've done before, should you choose to take it."

"How long?"

"At most, four years."

Eskay nodded. "What are the details of the assignment?"

"In the past week, three members of Crimsonite Camps about your age have entered Beacon Academy. The Director wants you to from a team with them and act as an informal bodyguard for both them and what they know."

Eskay had to admit, the job was far different from his usual offers.

"Anything else?"

"Beacon has a lot of unexplained expenses. The Director is very interested in where it may be going. Beyond that, any information you can recover on its headmaster, Ozpin, would be greatly beneficial."

"To clarify, Director Crimsonite wants me to enroll in Beacon Academy as a Hunter in training?"

"Mainly, yes."

"That hardly sounds like a mission."

"Call it a reward, then. For being so dependable all these years."

One final detail, then. "What is the payment for completing this mission?"

"Amnesty."

Eskay nearly dropped the Scroll. He was barely able to keep his voice level long enough to say "Contract accepted."

"Last call for Beacon," the airship announcer called. "If you need to get to the Academy before initiation, this is your last chance!" As the doors started to close, a lean fox Faunus rolled into the ship.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologized. The boy stumbled into an open seat.

"Are you a new student too?" The young Hunter glanced to his left and saw a cheery brunette rabbit Faunus on the seat beside him.

He tried to nod, but yelped in pain as the simple movement made his head seem to split.

The rabbit Faunus jumped in her seat. "Oh, dear! Are you alright?"

Felix groaned. "Yeah, I've just got a major headache." He almost shook his head, but thought better of it. "What's your name, then?"

The girl held out her hand timidly. "Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina."

He shook her offered hand. "Felix Fawkes."

"Yeah?" The two students turned in their chairs and saw a dark-skinned boy looking at them. At least, he was _probably_ looking at them. Hard to tell, considering his eyes were pure white.

"Say what?" Felix blinked.

"You said my name. Fox."

"Really?" The Faunus tilted his head. "Like the animal, or like F-A-W-K-E-S?"

"The first one. Fox Alistair." He, too, held out his hand.

His alternatively-spelled counterpart shook it. "Felix Fawkes. Spelled like the second one." He looked into Fox's eyes. "Also, random question, are you-"

"I'm not blind," he interjected. "White eyes are just a genetic thing in my family."

Velvet looked confused. "What do you mean, 'run in the family'?"

The pale-eyed Hunter shrugged. "Some sort of heritage thing. Granddad says that's where our name comes from. 'All-stare', see?"

Felix chuckled. Maybe he was quick to judge, but the kids at Beacon seemed a lot more open that what he was used to at Camp Theta. "Not gonna lie, that's a much better story than mine."

"Well, what _is_ your story," Velvet asked.

"Alright. The short version is that I was a foundling. You know, an orphan." The people who took me in had no imagination and named me for my Faunus heritage." He wiggled his ears demonstratively. "'Felix' was my choice, though."

Fox scratched his head. "How'd you raise money to go to Beacon in an orphanage?"

"Not an orphanage, exactly. I grew up in a camp… facility… settlement- thing run by a group called the Crimsonite Corporation."

A new voice chimed in. "Which camp?"

Felix looked up. There was a striking brunette looking right at him. "Theta," he answered. His eyes took a half-second sweep of her. She was lean, but not scrawny. She was wearing black leather boots, blackish-blue jeans, and a dark purple v-neck with the-

"The Crimsonite Cross?"

She nodded. "Just got it last week."

Thoroughly impressed, Felix looked at the rest of her getup. She also had a denim jacket, a navy-blue cape (cloak?), grey fingerless gloves, and an assortment of leather pouches. She also dyed the tips of her long hair purple.

"What about you," the Hunter-in-training asked. "You look like an Epsilon."

"Delta," she corrected. "Indigo Allisandra."

"Felix Fawkes," he replied. "This is Velvet Scarlatina, and this is Fox Alistair." The two students greeted Indigo. Suddenly, a hologram of a blonde woman appeared.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon," it spoke. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

The image disappeared, revealing the rising spires of Beacon Academy. The students collectively broke into excited conversation.

Felix stared at what was, to him, a monument to man's creativity and potential to create. "Wow." What else could be said, really?

"It really is quite remarkable," Indigo commented in appraisal. Her gaze shifted to the Faunus. "Speaking of remarkable, what happened to that headache you were just moaning about?"

He grinned. "Oh, it passed."

His partner raised an eyebrow. "Even with Aura, you can't get rid of a hangover in a matter of minutes."

Felix blinked. "Who said it was a hangover?"

Indigo wrinkled her nose. "Aside from the smell of alcohol?"

The Faunus sniffed his sleeve, then coughed at the rank smell. "Point taken."

"You didn't say why you got over it so fast," she reminded him.

"Ah." Felix winked. "That's my little secret."

"Your Semblance, then."

Before the boy could reply, a rumble went through the ship, and the doors slid open.

"Time to go." Indigo grabbed a long purple case up and joined the throng of students leaving the airship.

Felix looked at Velvet and Fox. "Well, how about we take a look at our home for the next four years?"

* * *

 _Meanwhile..._

Across Beacon's courtyard, another student was making a call.

"Vincent. I think I've found one of my… associates."

"Which one?"

"Erom, I believe. There's an avian Faunus flying rather high up."

Vincent sighed on the other end of the call. "Typical. You sure it's her? This school has quite a few Faunus students."

Eskay looked at a notepad listing statistics on his charges.

 _1). Name: Felix Fawkes_

 _Gender: Male_

 _Age: 17_

 _Race: Fox Faunus_

 _Height: 6'1"_

 _Weight: 152 lbs._

 _Eye Color: Gold_

 _Hair Color: Auburn_

 _2). Name: Indigo Allisandra_

 _Gender: Female_

 _Age: 17_

 _Race: Caucasian Human_

 _Height: 5'7"_

 _Weight: 139 lbs._

 _Eye Color: Lavender_

 _Hair Color: Brown, dyed violet tips_

 _3). Name: Raven Erom_

 _Gender: Female_

 _Age: 17_

 _Race: Raven Faunus_

 _Height: 5'8"_

 _Weight: 115 lbs._

 _Eye Color: Forest green_

 _Hair Color: Black_

"It should be her," Eskay conceded. "But without a closer look, I can't be sure."

"That's easy. Raven just needs something interesting to grab her attention."

"Such as?"

"Well… she'd probably find your mask interesting."

Eskay subconsciously touched the face-plate of a Beringel, a relic from long ago. "Would she even be able to see it from where she is?"

"Just keep looking up. She should see you."

"Right." The masked student ended the call and scanned the skies. No Faunus, but there was a group of birds flying towards the sun.

"Looking for something, masky?"

Eskay turned around to see what must have been Raven. Just like her file said, she had black hair, dark green eyes, and black-feathered wings. He looked at the Faunus' outfit. Small white blouse, skinny grey jeans, black leather double-belt, and black leather boots. She was also wearing a dark jacket that split into three near her wings.

He met her eyes. "Not anymore, I think."

Meanwhile, Raven was admiring the mysterious young man. He was taller than her, though his spiked back hair might have something to do with that. He was dressed nice, a lot nicer than most. He had a rich black suit, a crimson dress shirt, black leather gloves and shoes, and an obsidian pendant to top it all off. But most prominent of all was the Grimm-reminiscent mask he wore. She tried to see what he looked like under it, but could only see murky red eyes.

"That's an unusual mask. Did you make it yourself?"

The Hunter student smirked. "You could say that." He held out a gloved hand. "Eskay James."

She shook it strongly. "Raven Erom."

Eskay feigned ignorance. "As in the bird?"

The Faunus girl chuckled. "The people who named me… well, creativity wasn't their strong suit."

Eskay crossed his arms. "You mean your parents?"

Raven sighed. "Not exactly. I don't suppose you've heard of the Crimsonite Corporation?"

"As a matter of fact, I have."

Raven blinked. "Wait, really?" Her colleague nodded. "Oh, well, in that case, I was a foundling at Camp Gamma. They took the easy way with naming me. What about you? Did you grow up in a camp too?"

"Omega," Eskay replied.

The raven Faunus raised her hands in surprise. "Wait, you mean _the_ Omega Camp?"

"There's really only one," he pointed out.

Raven stared at the masked man in front of her. Omega Camp, it was said, was where children were trained and conditioned to be heartless killing machines. Hitmen. Bounty hunters. Murderers, even. The fruits of Omega were Crimsonite's greatest weapon against the Corporation's enemies.

"W-what did you train in?"

James grabbed an elongated case and headed towards the school. "Assassination. Now, I think it's time we attended the headmaster's speech."

"Hey, hold up!" Raven jumped to his side. "I want to ask about Ome-"

"My, my. Don't you look fetching," a new voice purred. The two students looked over their shoulders and saw a remarkably well-dressed young woman with large sunglasses. "Who might you be, coming here dressed to the nines?"

"What, this?" Eskay gestured at his attire. "These are my work clothes."

"Really? And what work would need you to have such a high-end suit?" The girl sidled up next to Eskay.

"Debt collection," he replied with next to no hesitation.

"So..." The young Huntress pushed up her sunglasses to uncover a pair of chocolate brown eyes. "What made you want to enroll at Beacon, then?"

"I was made an offer I couldn't refuse." Eskay couldn't help but grin a little under his mask.

"That's very cryptic, mister…"

"James. Eskay James."

"Eskay James…" She seemed to taste the name of the student. "Well, Eskay James, I hope we get meet again soon." The Huntress-in-training sauntered away from her classmates. She called over her shoulder. "Oh, and if you want to talk some more, the name's Coco Adel."

Raven walked up alongside Eskay. "Soooo… she was pretty."

James brushed off his shoulder. "So? In my experience, quality of looks has little, if anything, to do with quality of character."

"Well, she seemed nice, at least."

Eskay looked at the Faunus. "If you're trying to say something, by all means say it."

Raven leered at him. "Alright. Are you gonna ask Coco out?"

Eskay snorted. "Why? Because she looks attractive and probably tried to make a good first impression? I would need a little more reason that that."

"Okay, first, you don't know if that was an act or not. Second, it doesn't have to be a lifelong thing. It _can_ be casual. Or, you know, a little more. Which brings me to number three: she was _scrumptious_."

Before either student could continue the conversation, a staff member ushered them into the main hall, where they were given the most uninspiring pep talk ever. Of all time.

* * *

 _Later…_

"Well, _that_ was unusual," Felix commented.

"I honestly expected the leader of a Hunter academy to be more…" Indigo tried to put her thoughts to words.

"Animated?"

"Intense," she corrected.

The Faunus shrugged. "You're probably right. Seemed to me he was barely there, you know?"

"Well, he is a busy person, Velvet suggested. "He must be tired after getting all this set up in time. Maybe he had to stay up late checking for false transcripts or something."

"Doesn't matter." Fox stretched, letting out an involuntary yawn. "He made a speech, and bad or not, we need to get some sleep if we want to be ready for initiation."

The group of students sounded their agreement and left to find the ballroom where they would all be sleeping.

Behind them, an unseen pair of dark red eyes traced their every move. The watcher crept along the edge of the room, taking note of a particularly tall student asking for a different sleeping bag to fit his massive frame.

Seeing no visible threats, Eskay went out in search of different prey.

* * *

 _Meanwhile..._

"So… Beacon has co-ed rooms." Felix practically purred in satisfaction. "Felix _likes_."

Indigo smacked him back into reality. "Yeah, and if you try anything funny, you'll get kicked out of Beacon faster than you can say 'It was her idea'."

The Faunus groaned. "Can't a guy have a little fun?" He scanned the room, his eyes resting on a well-dressed girl looking over the crowd with amusement. "Speaking of which…" he scooted up next to her. "Question: are those your pajamas? 'Cause I think you're a bit overdressed for sleeping."

The girl smirked. "Hate to say it, but you don't strike me as a master of fashion yourself."

Felix looked down. He was still wearing the dress shirt and jeans he had thrown on that morning. "Oh, I'm not exactly at my best right now. I just grabbed this before I got on the airship."

She raised an eyebrow. "I hope so. Blue is definitely _not_ you color."

The fox boy acted hurt. "Are you saying you don't like me in this?"

The fashionista met his gaze over her sunglasses. "Maybe I'm saying I'd like you more _out_ of it."

Felix laughed. "Oh, I can tell we'll get along just _fine_."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Eskay sized up Beacon's main tower. If there were any secrets to be found, they'd be in Ozpin's office. He reached into his suit jacket and withdrew a light blue tube. He grabbed a silver hunting knife and loaded the tube into it. The knife's blade began glowing the same shade of blue. With a few measured swipes, the light faded away. All along the tower, chunks of ice began growing.

The masked student lept onto the first platform and reached into his jacket once more. He withdrew a vial of red powder.

With the recklessness and urgency of a snail encased in concrete, Eskay sprinkled some of the powder onto the ice and immediately covered the tube. He jumped to the next hunk of ice, and, with a snap of his fingers, the first ice block vanished into thin air.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

While the assassin was out infiltrating Beacon, his acquaintance was busy with… other endeavours.

"What do you mean, 'proportionate'?"

"I mean, do the ratios of body size that apply to me apply to you," the Faunus explained.

The man in front of her, a hulking warrior of a Hunter, stared at her. "Body size- but isn't that obvious?" He gestured to his kimono-clad from.

"I can see _most_ of it, Yatsu. But not _all_."

"What do you-" Realization dawned on Yatsuhashi.

Raven giggled. "So what's the answer?"

"That is none of your concern," he replied sternly.

"Ah, come on," the girl pleaded. "Just a hint?"

"No. Don't ask again. I'm going to bed." He started getting up.

"Why?" She raised her eyebrow. "Are you embarrassed by it?"

Yatsuhashi growled. "Goodnight, Raven."

The Faunus girl huffed. "Fine. I need to find my friend, anyway." She looked around. Actually, where _was_ Eskay?

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Eskay tilted his head up. The Headmaster's office was within arm's reach. Now came the problem of getting inside it. Fortunately for him, the assassin had more than a few tricks up his sleeves. First, he checked the interior of the office through the window. Empty. That made his job much easier. Eskay stepped off the ice and onto the window frame, using a pinch of red powder to remove the final platform.

Eskay then swapped the red vial for a lavender one. This he poured on himself. Immediately, he turned translucent. Quickly, the masked boy went through the window before returning to normal. He gasped and grabbed at his chest for a moment, then set to work.

He crept through the office, taking note of potential defensive positions. On the desk was a piece of paper. Eskay read it.

 _Nicely done,_ it said. _I suppose you deserve a reward. So I'll let you in on a little secret: during Initiation, there will be a collection of artifacts. Teams will be based on groups of two who pick identical pieces._

 _With love,_

 _Ozpin_

Eskay narrowed his eyes. Ozpin knew he was coming? But how?!

Suddenly, the elevator turned on behind him. He quickly pressed himself against a bookcase and strengthened his Semblance.

The elevator dinged. Its doors slid open, and through them stepped Ozpin himself. The professor walked behind his desk and sat down. He sighed and looked at his tablet. "Tell me, was it Burn Dust that you used to sublimate the ice?"

The bespectacled man stared directly at Eskay. "And if it wasn't already obvious, I can indeed see you, Mister James."

The hidden boy sneered. "Surely this was a bluff, right? His Semblance had been active this entire time! Experimentally, Eskay moved over to the other side of the room. Ozpin's eyes tracked him the entire time. Eskay decided to drop his Semblance.

All of a sudden, the boy was visible to all. Ozpin grinned, rather cheekily. He motioned for him to take a seat.

The assassin cautiously sat down. "How?"

The headmaster's grin increased. "You mean, how did I know where you were, despite the fact that you were invisible?" Eskay nodded. "As headmaster, I can view confidential information on _all_ my prospective and current students. Nothing too invasive, just statistics really. However, this information includes the students' weaponry and Semblances. After reading about you, I had a feeling you would try to sneak into my office, given where you place your loyalty."

Eskay narrowed his eyes. "You deduced my M.O." It was a statement of fact, not a question.

Ozpin smiled. "Indeed I did. When given an assignment, you will first try to glean any information you can regarding your target, especially their…" Ozpin smiled. Again. "Dirty secrets."

Eskay developed a sudden urge to be anywhere but in front of Ozpin.

"With that fact in mind, I personally upgraded the cameras in the main tower and in my office to detect you." The grinning headmaster passed Eskay his tablet, displaying four different views of the room. One was normal, a bird's-eye angle of the room. The camera feed beneath it came from the other side of Ozpin's desk, and looked like an x-ray of the room, with skeletons in the place of him and the headmaster. Next to that was thermal imaging, from above a bookshelf. The final one, however, was different. It was black, but would consistently recreate the room with three-dimensional silhouettes.

Eskay gave the device back to the headmaster. "Thermal, x-ray, and… sonar?"

Ozpin smiled encouragingly. "Excellent work, Mister James. Now, can you guess which ones I used to see you?"

He thought about it for a second. "X-ray, undoubtedly. And given what I understand about my Semblance, I would say… thermal?" He blinked. "Wait, you could also use sonar whenever I move or touch something, so all three."

Ozpin gave the student an affirming nod. " _Very_ well done, Mister James. It seems you live up to your reputation."

The assassin paused. "I have a reputation?"

The teacher nodded. "Indeed. While it is true that you largely work under the radar, no one can truly disappear. Not even you." The veteran Huntsman rose from his seat and paced around his office. "It was far from easy, I'll grant you that. But in the end, all it came down to was two things: resources and time. And I have great amounts of both." He glanced at his student. "They call you 'Grimm Reaper', you know. An enigmatic assassin, rumored to be half-Grimm, half-human. He is only seen when he wants to be seen. And of course," Ozpin smiled faintly, "he is prepared for _anything_ that comes his way." He sat back down. "Which brings me back to my first question." He leaned forward. "How _did_ you dispose of the ice so efficiently?"

In response, Eskay reached into his pocket and drew out a half-filled vial of red powder. "Rust 7. A mixture of Fire, Air for stability, and sodium, which will burn so long as it's in contact with ice or water."

Across the desk, Ozpin looked impressed. "So it will burn until either the mixture or the ice is no more. Impressive." He took a sip from a nearby coffee mug. "And what of your gaining entry into my office?"

A lavender tube this time. "Gravity and Spirit. I can become incorporeal, without the chance of falling into Remnant's Core."

"By controlling your personal gravity." He chuckled. "Once again, I am impressed." He stood up. "Tell me, do you play chess, Mister James?"

Eskay nodded. "I know my fair share of the game."

Ozpin took another sip of coffee. "Then you know that the most important piece is also the most vulnerable."

The assassin, having been out of his depth for far too long, rose to the headmaster's thinly veiled challenge. "Only if the player doesn't know how to properly use his pawns."

"Is that what you think?" Ozpin opened the elevator. "Because I've always felt that victory comes from using the strengths of those around you, as well as your own. Every piece has a purpose, after all." He motioned to the elevator.

Eskay started walking out of the office. "Maybe so. We should play a game sometime."

As the door closed, Ozpin smiled to himself. "We already are, Mister James." He watched the student through the elevator's camera feed. "We already are."

 **Song: Gravity**

 **Artist: Xilent (feat. Tali)**

 **Album: Skyward-EP**

* * *

 **And that, at last, is that.**

 **By the way, with this story, I have near a dozen projects to keep track of now. If you want me to focus on one story, or start one of the ones on my profile, just let me know. This was fun to write, and I've actually already started the second chapter.**

 **And, let me tell you, I have SOOO much planned for this story. I have new teachers, an entire continent, and multiple villains, all planned out and waiting to be used.**

 **But, until then, this is FoxHunt5, signing off!**


	2. Bend and Break

**It's been awhile, hasn't it? How have you all been?**

 **I've been busy as a Bee (Movie meme maker) with this new chapter, along with a few other projects that are in the works. Chances are against my ever finishing them, but I'm going to remain hopeful!**

 **Putting that aside, I am really tired, so I just want to get this uploaded now.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. If it were otherwise, Ozpin would be 10000000% more cheeky than he already is.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2:** (I'm Gonna Make It) Bend and Break

" _Why are we in this wasteland?" A boy asked of a man next to him._

 _The man looked down. "Wasteland? This used to be a town of over five hundred people."_

 _The child looked around, noticing hints of brick among the overgrown vines and weeds. "Did the Grimm come for them?"_

 _The man started walking down a cracked street. "No, not this place. Years ago, Ammanon was a place of progress. The warriors were strong and the scientists were clever." He sighed. "Perhaps too clever." He kicked aside a stone. "They were working on a way to repel the creatures of Grimm. They had a theory that if a group of people had enough Aura, the Grimm would see them as too great a threat to attack them. Ten years ago, they developed a machine that would boost the Aura of everyone in the vicinity."_

" _And it failed, right?" Asked the boy._

 _His companion shook his head. "They succeeded." He checked his watch as the boy stared at him, confused._

" _Where are they, then?"_

 _The man looked at the moon. "You should be seeing right… about… now." A cloud blocked off the moonlight. Slowly, the ruined settlement began filling with glowing forms. The boy watched in awe as the lights took the shapes of people going from place to place. One of them, shaped like a green woman, took notice of him and crouched in front of him._

" _Go ahead, Ammon." The man nudged him forward._

 _Cautiously, the boy reached for the humanoid glow. Inches from their face, his Aura started to glow, and he could feel her warmth._

" _The machine worked better than anyone could have thought," said the man. "Their Auras burned brighter than ever. They burned so much that it overwhelmed their bodies and disintegrated them. And so now they live on as sentient Auras, known as the Quiet Lights."_

" _They're like ghosts," breathed the child as the ethereal woman held his hand in her own._

 _The man chuckled. "Yes, I suppose they are." He watched the two of them interact. "This is where your grandfather used to live, as a matter of fact. He made sure you would be named after Ammanon. This is where your name came from."_

 _The moon overhead appeared from behind the clouds, and the Quiet Lights faded away. The boy looked around. "Where did they go?"_

" _Wiser men than I have tried and failed to answer that. Since the incident a decade ago, the most accepted theory is that the people of Ammanon live in another world, where there are no Grimm, no darkness. It's kind of sad, in a way. They live in paradise, but have no way of telling anyone about it. While we, stuck on Remnant, can only see them in the blackest night."_

 _The boy looked inquiringly at the man. "Why did you take me here?"_

 _The man looked up at the stars. "So you can always know where you came from."_

* * *

On the morning of the Initiation, Felix awoke to a splash of freezing cold water drenching him. He sputtered and shot bolt upright.

"Tell me, Fawkes, are all Thetas as laid-back as they say, or just you?"

The Faunus blinked his eyes open. Indigo was standing over him, an empty bucket in her hand. He rubbed the water off his face. "Dust, Indigo, was that really necessary?"

The young Huntress put the wet bucket down. "It worked, didn't it?" She patted his head. "Now get dried off. We need to get all geared up for our initiation, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." Felix pulled himself out of the soaked sleeping bag and stretched. "Finally, we get to have some _real_ fun." He smiled.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Over in the locker room, Raven was putting the finishing touches on her outfit. It was mainly the same as before, but with a few new items hanging off her waist-a folded-up bow, a long knife sheath, and a covered hatchet-and a quiver of arrows on her back. She flexed her wrists and looked around for a friendly face.

What she saw, while technically more of a familiar mask than a friendly face, was exactly what she was looking for. The Faunus approached Eskay jovially. "Hey, Essy. Where'd you run off to yesterday?"

Eskay grabbed a pair of machetes from his locker. "Don't call me that. My name is Eskay."

"-and Essy is your nickname," Raven declared.

The suit-clad student shook his head. "To reiterate, my name is Eskay. I don't use nicknames. And as for where I was last night, I had to speak with the Headmaster and didn't return until everyone was fast asleep." _Which is the truth, if not all of it,_ he thought to himself.

"A one-on-one talk with Ozpin?" Eskay could hear the distaste in her voice.

"It was actually quite interesting." He closed his locker.

The two students passed through the throng of teenagers to where Professor Goodwitch said they would start their initiation. Along the way, they passed a familiar duo.

"...and then this Geist comes up, thinking he's hot stuff, so I just grabbed some uncut Burn, smashed it into his face, and…" Coco's story was punctuated by the sound of Fox banging his head against his locker.

"How does this have _anything_ to do with the fact that your weapon is a purse?"

"I was getting to that," the fashionista sighed. But instead of continuing her tale, Coco looked over Fox's shoulder. He followed her gaze to see what looked like Felix's self-respecting twin. Rather that a disheveled boy, the Faunus looked matured, more dangerous. In place of the rumpled white shirt, he had a crimson button up shirt, a black suit vest, and a long leather trench coat with golden clips and cufflinks. Where yesterday was a pair of dirty jeans, he now had dark burgundy jeans, a leather belt with a gold buckle, and tall brown suede boots. At the moment, he was strapping on a pair of gleaming red gauntlets.

Coco nodded. "So you weren't kidding about your 'best outfit'."

Felix smirked, putting a gold earring through one of his upper ears. "Like I have to lie about how good I look." Coco rolled her eyes.

Fox, however, was confused. "Hang on, you're okay with wearing leather?" He received an elbow to the ribs, courtesy of Coco. "I mean-"

The Faunus waved the question away. "It's fine, I've heard it loads of times before. Leather doesn't bother me. Maybe if I were a cow, but the only way I'd dislike it is if it were mine."

Coco chuckled. "Well, I guess that's lucky, 'cause leather definitely looks good on you."

Felix posed dramatically. "Oh, my dear Miss Adel, _everything_ looks good on me."

As the three friends laughed and joked, another three of their compatriots were having a minor disagreement.

"It doesn't matter if I have long-range or not," said Yatsuhashi. "Most Grimm are melee-based. If I want to be a good Huntsman, I need to be able to beat them at their own game."

"You forget," Indigo countered. "We have to fight other Hunters in our combat classes, and they will _definitely_ have long-range weapons."

The mountainous man shrugged. "It's never been a problem. I can use the flat of my sword to block most everything that comes my way."

Velvet chimed in. "But what about fast-shooting weapons? Like, what if you had to fight a Huntsman who had a minigun or something?"

He considered the prospect. "That would pose a challenge. But those types of weapons are notoriously unruly. All it would take to make an opening would be a well-timed quake."

Indigo held the door open for the two of them. "Well, with any luck, we won't have to deal with any long-range attacks for a looong time."

* * *

 _Hours later…_

"Indigo!" Yatsu ducked barely dodged a massive black feather. "I'm blaming you for this!"

"What are you talking about?" Indigo peeked out of cover long enough to fire a shot at the Nevermore. "It was Raven who-"

"You jinxed it, Indigo! You Dust Dammed JINXED IT!"

* * *

 _In the present…_

"You're right." The giant student ducked under the doorframe. "What are the chances of that happening?"

* * *

 _Near the Emerald Forest_

Raven looked around, bored beyond belief. She had no idea how long the headmaster had been talking (five minutes), but it sure as Dust felt like forever! She stepped onto the grass around her plate.

"Miss Erom." Raven jumped at Ozpin calling her out. "I did ask that you stay on your pad."

"Did you?" She tilted her head in mock puzzlement. "I hadn't noticed."

Ozpin looked like he was about to argue, but instead started grinning. "Very well. The rest of the speech is idle babble anyway. What say we go straight to the Initiation itself?" He tapped his tablet and the Faunus was sent half-flying, half-falling into the Emerald Forest. He took a sip of coffee. "Anyone else?"

When none of the students answered, Ozpin shrugged and pressed the Master Release on his tablet, launching the entire student body off the cliff. Glynda swore she could hear one of them shouting "Fuck you, Ozpin!"

The headmaster seemed to hear it too. "How rude." He drank some more coffee to calm down.

* * *

 _Over the Emerald Forest_

Up in the sky, Raven looked down on her classmates as they landed in the forest. The first to land, unsurprisingly, was Yatsuhashi. He stabbed his oversized blade right through the heart of a tree, only for it to snap like a twig halfway up its trunk. Raven could only imagine his face as he fell to the forest floor.

Meanwhile, Felix was using a flashier method of landing. He swung from tree to tree using a pair of chains. The rest of the students were all using their own landing methods, with varying degrees of success. Except Essy. He had disappeared.

 _What was it he said?_ Raven thought back to Ozpin's long-winded speech. _The first person we make eye contact with will be our partner._ She processed this. _I'll just find Essy._

Her decision made, Raven swooped down to where she last saw him.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

While Raven was watching over her fellow Hunters, Coco was having a noticeably worse time with the initiation.

"Damn trees with their damn useless bark," she grumbled, glaring at the offending pieces of flora. "First I _barely_ have time to do my hair this morning, then I'm springboarded into this God-forsaken forest, and to top it all off, my favorite sweater is _ruined_!" She yelled the last word into the woods.

Unexpectedly, the woods answered her.

In the form of a Beowulf.

An _Alpha_ Beowulf.

Coco narrowed her eyes. "Alright. Let's do this."

The Grimm charged forward, but the Huntress ducked under its arm and smashed her handbag into the back of its leg. As the beast turned, Coco roundhouse kicked it in the knee, making its legs buckle. With the built-up momentum, she swung her bag around and smashed it into the Beowulf's skull. Finally, she lifted the weapon over her head and slammed the Beowulf's head into the ground.

Satisfied with her work, Coco sauntered away, happy to let off some steam. She really needed it, after all. She heard a growl from the supposedly dead Alpha. She turned and saw the massive monster rise up. Two more members of its pack crawled out from the shadows.

Coco got herself into a fighting stance. But before she started her attack, a red-brown blur darted past her and rammed into the leader Beowulf. In the second he stood still, Coco saw that it was Fox, the white-eyed boy from before.

As quick as he appeared, Fox jumped and spun like a corkscrew, making a ring of death with his blades. The Alpha got the worst of it, getting cut all up and down its body. Fox rolled under its legs and jumped on its back. His blades crossed over the beast's throat. With a single swipe, the Grimm fell, headless, to the ground.

The two remaining Beowolves roared. They swiped at the Hunter, only for each to be blocked, one by Fox, the other by Coco's handbag. Coco's brown eyes met Fox's white, and the now-paired students set to work doing what they did best.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

About half a mile away, Felix was enjoying himself to no end. His landing was perfect, perfect in this instance meaning "five feet in front of an Ursa".

The black bear roared as the Faunus sliced its back open. The wounds burst into flames, sending the Grimm into a frenzy. It swung its claws at the young Hunter, only for him to jump out of its reach.

As the fires on its back died out, the Ursa dropped to all fours and ran at Felix. The Huntsman jumped at it, meeting it head-on. The Grimm saw a flash of red, and an explosion blew its face plate off. Felix followed up by kicking off on its damaged skull, slamming it into the ground. The Faunus splashed down in a lake, ready to keep fighting. Instead, the Ursa laid completely still, its red ichor pooling around its head.

Felix sighed. "Alright, who's next?" In accord with Murphy's law, the moment he asked that, a King Taijitu shot at him out of the lake and sent him flying into a tree. He coughed, splattering the ground with blood.

The Huntsman approached the Grimm, trying to laugh. "That all you got?"

Fate well and truly tempted, the Taijitu's other head suddenly wrapped itself around Felix. The first head, the white one, hissed and slithered up to the trapped student, massive fangs bared. Felix started struggling against the coils, a golden glow surrounding him.

"Alright," he chuckled. "I think I'm warmed up." To its surprise, the Grimm started to feel itself uncurl. As the two pushed against each other, a gunshot sounded and the Taijitu's white head hit the ground, dead as a doornail. The remaining head turned towards the noise, but a glowing purple chain appeared and tied it to the tree trunk.

"Fawkes!" Felix looked up. There, nestled in a tree, was Indigo Allisandra. "Duck!" The Huntress brandished a black sniper rifle and peered through its scope. Felix rolled away as Indigo fired her weapon through the serpent's head.

While the Grimm's corpse slowly started disintegrating, Indigo slid down yet another purple chain and approached her comrade. "You alright, Fawkes?" She offered him a hand up.

Felix accepted her hand. "Much better after seeing you."

"Good. Now, I suggest we find the temple before it gets dark." She walked past her new partner. "This way."

Felix walked behind her, curiously eyeing the weapon on her back. "What kind of gun can kill a King Taijitu with just two shots?"

"In this case, one loaded with hollow-tipped Red Dust." She held it out to him. "Take a look if you want. After the Taijitu, there shouldn't be any Grimm around here."

Felix held up an armored hand. "One sec." He twisted a knob on his weapons, and the clawed metal gloves snapped back, leaving his hands free to accept the proffered rifle. "Thank you." The Hunter in training turned the weapon around, looking through its scope. "Nice gun. You got a name for it?"

Indigo nodded. "Seivo Nara. In old Drakkar, it means 'Killshot'. It, or rather _he_ , is accurate up to 1,500 yards, more than that after a field strip." She caught the look on her partner's face.

"By field strip-"

"I take Seivo Nara apart, clean and check every piece of him, then reassemble him. It has nothing to do with clothes."

Felix hummed. "You keep saying 'he'. Aren't guns usually female, or something?"

"That's really up to the owner. Regardless, Seivo has saved my life more times than I would care to count."

The Faunus hummed. "This really is a fine weapon." He handed Seivo Nara back to Indigo. "Does it- I mean, does _he_ have a melee form?"

"Not just ." She accepted her weapon and shifted it into a long pole. "That includes quarterstaff," it shifted again, a single point sliding out from where the stock used to be. "Spear," a pair of cutting blades came out near the spear's head. "And lastly, halberd." She spun the weapon around and put it on her back. "Now, seeing as we're to be partners, it seems only right that I see what you have as your weapon."

"I'd be happy to oblige." Felix unclasped his gauntlet and handed it to his new partner. She turned it around, noticing that there was a set of glowing red claws on the fingernails and a kunai mounted on the wrist.

"Impressive. Do you have a name for them?" Indigo passed the weapon back to Felix.

He clapped it back on. Yaran Pa." The Faunus shifted the gloves back over his hands. "The claws are made with Dust, and can be launched like tiny grenades." He tapped the kunai. "I even was able to fit them with a Zeld-A brand spike launcher for longer range." Felix took a bow. "For your consideration, Yaran Pa."

Indigo flicked him on the head. "Cute."

The Faunus grinned. "D'aww, you think I'm cute?"

His partner sighed. _Atlas,_ she thought to herself. _I should have gone to Atlas._

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

"What do you _mean_ you don't know where the temple is?" Raven, usually cheerful and bright, was admittedly starting to lose her cool.

"Exactly what I said," Eskay replied. "I haven't seen any sign of it, or the other students. If anything, you should know where it is."

"I…" Raven stopped herself. She had no argument against that. She sighed. "Alright, but you have to give me a lift." Eskay obliged, putting his hands together for her. Raven stretched out her wings and stepped on her partner's hands.

"On three." The assassin nodded. "One… two… three!" The Faunus kicked off Eskay's hands as the boy threw her foot up in the air. Raven beat her wings, knocking Eskay off his feet. As he pulled himself up, he couldn't help but feel impressed at the raw force she had. Raven's wings pushed her up through the foliage until she passed out of sight.

"Can you see the temple?"

"Yeah, we're on the right track," Raven confirmed. "It looks like a big old coliseum. I'm gonna take a closer look at it."

"No, wait!" Eskay tried to warn his partner, but it was in vain. A strong gust marked that Raven had gone, leaving Eskay to chase after her from below. After weaving and jumping through the forest floor, the assassin came to the edge of a small cliff. At the bottom, Eskay could make out the coliseum Raven was talking about.

Eskay looked up. Where was Raven?

Something fell through the foliage behind the assassin. It was Raven. "Hey, Essy. Just so you know, it might be a good idea to get to low ground." She glanced over her shoulder. Not far off, the unmistakable cry of a Nevermore could be heard. "Like, right now."

Eskay nodded. "Right. I'll meet you at the temple." As his partner flew to the coliseum, Eskay pulled a lavender tube out of his blazer. He poured some of it on himself, then jumped off the cliff. Moments before he hit the treeline, he slowed down, passing through some of the canopy and landing safely on the ground below. He looked up at the looming coliseum in front of him. Seeing an ancient archway, Eskay stepped through it into a large stadium. He took a moment to get his bearings. Lining the edge of the arena were about two dozen pedestals, most with a small hourglass on them. Eskay examined on of them.

"I already grabbed one." Eskay turned around. Raven was up in the stands, admiring a golden hourglass idly. "You know, I think this might be real gold," she noted. "It might be worth something."

"We can't sell it. It's the property of Beacon."

"Probably, but what if I just-"

A hiss cut off Raven. Her emerald eyes narrowed. "Deathstalker." The two students went to where they heard the hiss. Just like Raven said, a Deathstalker was right next to the coliseum. It was being attacked by a familiar rabbit Faunus and a massive warrior. The pair of them were slicing up the Grimm with giant matching swords. Slowly, the Deathstalker slowed more and more. Taking advantage of the opening, Yatsuhashi rushed forward and stabbed his sword down into the scorpion's face. The mountainous Huntsman followed up by flipping over his sword, wrenching it out of the Grimm, and spearing it once more straight through its shell. The Deathstalker writhed in pain, then slowly went limp. The two students got up and went into the coliseum. Raven and Eskay jumped down to greet them.

"Hey, Yatsy!" Raven smiled. "How's it going?"

"Raven," replied Yatsuhashi.

"You two know each other?" asked Eskay.

"We had a quick chat the other night," said Yatsu. "Although, I don't think I know you."

He held out his hand. "Eskay James."

"Yatsuhashi Daichi. And this it Velvet Scarlatina."

The Faunus waved. "Heya." She saw the hourglass in Raven's hand. "Oh, is that one of the relics?"

She held it up. "Sure is!" She pointed over her shoulder. "There's a ton more down there."

Yatsuhashi looked down at the arena. "I'll grab one," he said before leaving. His partner, however, just stared at the timepiece in Raven's hand.

"Why is all the sand in the top?"

"It is?" Raven checked the relic. Just like Velvet had said, the sand in the hourglass was in the top bulb. In fact, it was actively defying gravity. "Huh. Whaddya know?"

"It's probably Gravity Dust," said Eskay.

"In an hourglass?" Velvet didn't seem to buy it.

"It'd make a hell of a novelty item," commented Raven. "It'd be worth quite a pretty penn-"

A shudder passed through the temple, cutting off her thought. Yatsuhashi jumped up to join his comrades. "Was that an earthquake?" He sounded doubtful even as he said it.

Raven unfolded her bow and nocked an arrow. "I don't see anything."

"There!" Velvet pointed north, near where she and Yatsuhashi had come from. Writhing on the ground was a King Taijitu. The students heard two gunshots, and the Grimm went limp.

"You know, I'm _really_ not liking this forest," sighed Raven as she folded up her bow.

In response, two chains imbedded themselves into the coliseum wall. One was all silvery, but the other had a strange purple glow. At the far end of the chains, a pair of students flew forwards out of the trees and towards the group. Right before the hit, the chains receded, and they arced over their compatriots down to the stadium floor. Raven, Eskay, Yatsuhashi and Velvet jumped down to see that the newcomers were none other than Felix Fawkes and Indigo Allisandra.

"You guys see that," panted Felix. "That was awesome!"

"Awesome or not," said Indigo, "you still lost."

The fox got up and dusted himself off. "Why do you gotta be like that?" He nodded at his audience. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"A few seconds ago, you," cracked Raven. Yatsuhashi groaned inwardly at the poor attempt for a joke.

Indigo pushed herself up with what looked like a staff. "There are six students here. If teams are made of fours, there should be another two that are unaccounted for."

Velvet thought for a second. "There was that one boy Fo-"

A distant shout made her turn and see an airborne Huntsman. Yatsuhashi groaned. "For the love of Dust, what is it now?"

"MOTHERFUCKING HOUSECAT!" The source of the scream crashed into the coliseum wall, breaking it into pieces. As the dust settled, the figure of Fox Alistair was seen lying on a pile of rubble. He coughed, making his nearly-depleted Aura flicker white. "Bitch." A chunk of stone bounced off his head, and he went limp.

Velvet crouched by him. "He's alive," she reported. "But I don't think he'll be able to get up for a while."

"I can take him back to the school," offered Yatsuhashi.

"I'll grab a relic for him," said Velvet.

"Alright," said Indigo. "And while you do that, the four of us can help out Adel."

"We don't have a better plan," Felix decided. "Velvet, grab a relic. We'll catch up to you after we get Coco."

As Yatsuhashi lifted the unconscious Fox onto his shoulders, Felix, Indigo, Raven and Eskay took off into the forest.

"Fox said something about a cat," Raven called to her group. "Do you think he was fighting a lion Grimm?"

"An Aslan," recited Indigo. "Class B Grimm, has a roar that can cause internal hemorrhaging. Vulnerable to stabbing."

The four of them entered a mid-sized clearing. "Let's take it down here," said Felix. "The open space should give us the advantage. Indigo, your spear should be able to pierce the Aslan's hide. And… Raven, was it?" She nodded. "Stay high, and use your arrows. And you, with the mask-"

The Faunus's commands were cut off as Coco ran into them. "Oh," she panted. "It's you. Mind giving me a hand with this Aslan? It's starting to get annoying."

Indigo looked through Seivo Nara's scope. "It's almost here." She shifted her weapon into a spear. "James, you and Coco keep the Aslan distracted. Fawkes and Erom, stay in the trees, use long range." She looked around. "What are you still doing here? Get moving!" The five of them split up. Felix and Raven took to the trees and readied their respective weapons. Eskay drew a pair of machetes and then disappeared from sight. Indigo Stood opposite Coco, Seivo Nara at the ready. Seconds later, the Aslan burst through the trees and into the Hunters' trap.

Like many Grimm, an Aslan closely resembled one animal or another. In this case, it was a massive lion, with a bushy mane and a long tail. However, the fur of an Aslan had the unique property of being stronger than iron, made of something akin to Kevlar. Because of this, an Aslan was all but impervious to slashes, explosions, and bullets fired from anything but a perfect angle. When they matured, the fur in their manes and at the ends of their tails turned into deadly spikes. That, combined with a roar that could rupture internal organs at close range, made for a Grimm that demanded both the fear and the respect of every Hunter.

The shadowy creature growled as it realized that one human had turned into four. It was big, almost big enough to be a Witchbreaker Aslan. Indigo signaled to Coco. The fashionista shifted her handbag into a minigun, of all things. She fired round after round at the Grimm, but it only seemed to infuriate it. As the Aslan was about to charge, Raven and Felix fired consecutively at the beast. The Grimm tried to keep moving, but it couldn't escape the constant hits.

Across the clearing, Indigo exhaled slowly. Much like sniping, proper spear throwing was only worth doing if done right. Finally, as the Aslan turned towards her, she threw Seivo Nara straight at it. The spear flew true, lodging itself in the Aslan's right eye.

The beast roared in agony. What had happened? First one enemy turned into four, and now it could barely see! It swung its tail, hoping to kill one of the creatures that had done this. It focused its good eye on its original its primal rage, the Aslan charged the Huntress.

Coco quickly shifted her minigun back into a handbag and got ready to smash the lion's head in. Moments before they met, Eskay appeared between the two of them and slashed at the Aslan, then fired shotgun shells point-blank into its side. The force of the impact sent the Grimm flying into a massive tree.

"Trap it, Indigo!" Felix lept for the downed Aslan. His partner swung her hand, wrapping the monster in purple chains. Felix hit the ground in front of the Grimm and stabbed hit claws into its skull. The Aslan roared and struggled against its chains, trying desperately to bite the creature in front of it and stop the hurting. Felix groaned, his skin radiating a gold light. With a final pull, the Faunus separated the Aslan's head from its neck. He tossed it onto the disappearing corpse of the Grimm. His comrades grouped up around their fallen enemy.

Indigo pulled her spear from the Aslan's skull. "What _is_ your Semblance?"

"More importantly," Coco interjected, "Is Fox okay?"

Felix started walking back the way he had came. "I'll tell you on the way back." The Faunus stepped into the trees, followed closely by the other Hunters in training.

"Fox landed in the forest temple barely conscious," Felix informed Coco. "His Aura was all but gone, so we had Yatsuhashi and Velvet take him back to Beacon."

Coco smiled. "Guess I owe you one."

"What about your Semblance," interrupted Indigo. "Does it have to do with strength?"

Felix grinned. Once again, a golden light surrounded him, making him go faster. "It's called Flare. It lets me be faster, stronger, more stamina, all that jazz." The glow faded, and Felix started breathing a bit heavier. "Problem is, if I use Flare to boost one thing about me, it tires that thing."  
"Hey, Felix?" Coco panted. "This isn't really the time for a lecture on Semblances."

"Indigo asked," he responded. "Besides, we took out the Aslan, what else is there to worry about?"

"There's the temple," called Eskay.

"Ah, you see?" Felix grinned. "We're home fr-" He blinked. "Yatsu and Velvet are making a break for the temple!"

"Why would they do that?" Coco tightened her grip on her handbag.

"Oh, no." Eskay started sprinting for the coliseum. "Raven! Get out of the air!"

A muffled 'what?" was the only reply the Faunus gave before a dark shadow passed over them.

"Nevermore!" Eskay moved deftly as sharpened black feathers rained down on all of them. Behind him, Indigo cast a chain towards the coliseum and pulled herself forward.

Felix, Eskay, and Coco jumped and ducked through the feathery hailstorm, somehow reaching the temple unscathed. Once inside, they took a moment to collect themselves.

"You too, then?" The three of them saw Yatsuhashi, Velvet and a groaning Fox inside an old archway.

"Fox!" Coco knelt by her injured partner. "How is he?"

"He's fine, but not if we don't get out of here." Yatsuhashi peeked out of cover at the Nevermore overhead.

Indigo appeared next to Felix. "Fawkes. I count seven Hunters here. One's missing."

Eskay inhaled sharply. "Raven."

Suddenly, another volley of feathers came down from above, breaking apart the ancient structure and forcing the students to split up among the few remaining arches and halls. A threatening screech sounded as even more of the deadly projectiles rained down.

"Indigo!" Yatsu ducked barely dodged a massive black feather. "I'm blaming you for this!"

"What are you talking about?" Indigo peeked out of cover long enough to fire a shot at the Nevermore. "It was Raven who-"

"You jinxed it, Indigo! You Dust Dammed JINXED IT!"

"Guys!" A voice from the far side of the arena caught their attention. It was Raven. "We need to get back the Beacon!"

"What do we do, Felix?" Velvet looked to her friend.

The Faunus looked panicked, though he tried to hide it. "We… we need to-"

"Stall it," interrupted Eskay. "Give me two minutes." With that less-than-satisfying explanation, the assassin vanished from sight.

Coco grinned. "I can handle that." She shifted her weapon into its minigun form. Yatsu glared at Indigo, who just shrugged. The fashionista started firing at the Nevermore, annoying it more than anything. As it was about to attack, Indigo fired a high-impact shot at its head, eventually being joined by Velvet sporting a blue wireframe version of Seivo Nara.

Exactly two minutes later, Eskay reappeared with a golden hourglass in one hand. "Can any of you get this up to the Nevermore?"

"I might," offered Yatsuhashi. "But… why?"

Ignoring the giant student, Eskay moved to Indigo. "When the hourglass reaches its apex, I need you to shoot it."

"Affirmative." The sniper started reloading, but stopped short. "What the- I'm out!"

Velvet raised her hand. "I can do it."

Eskay handed the artifact to Yatsuhashi. "Everyone, the moment Velvet shoots the hourglass, you need to start running."

Coco stopped firing briefly. "I'll grab Fox."

The assassin nodded. "Acknowledged. Yatsuhashi, on three. One…" The student readied himself. "Two…" A light shone from Velvet's hip, forming a replica of Seivo Nara in her hands. "Three!"

Yatsuhashi sent the hourglass flying towards the Grimm. Through her scope, Velvet watched the artifact rise up and up. When it was right next to the Nevermore's beak, she fired, and her rifle dissolved.

The effect was instantaneous. The Nevermore stopped moving, and started falling, and falling fast.

"Everybody out!" Felix took off at a sprint, followed closely by the others. Seconds later, the massive black beast crashed down into the coliseum, reducing it to rubble.

Coco tried to clear the dust out of her lungs. "Well, if this outfit wasn't ruined before, it definitely is now."

Velvet sneezed. "Ah, sorry." She sniffed. "Is everyone okay?"

Yatsuhashi looked around. "Almost everyone is here. We're just missing one person."

"Come on, Yatsy." A familiar figure appeared out of the dust. "You should know my name by now."

"Looks like that's everyone," commented Felix.

"So… we did it?" Indigo asked.

"I think we did," said Coco.

As the dust slowly drifted down around the students, they all started chuckling. Then, as one, they laughed.

"Fawkes." Indigo suddenly spoke up. "How much trouble do you think we'll get in for outright destroying the temple?"  
The laughter died away as the group realized what they had just done.

"Eheh. Eheh." Felix forced a chuckle through his teeth. "We are in _so_ much trouble."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

"What do you _mean_ they're not in trouble?"

Ozpin sipped from his mug. "Exactly what I said."

Glynda sputtered in disbelief. "They destroyed an ancient temple!"

"It wasn't _that_ old."

"That's not the point!" Glynda was fuming. "We've been using that coliseum for _years_!" How are we going to do Initiation without it?"

Ozpin shrugged. "Why not just build another? We could make it smaller, so it's more of a challenge."

As Glynda started listing reason after reason why Beacon in fact _couldn't_ just "build another", Ozpin watched his eight students with growing interest.

* * *

 _Later…_

"Aaron Grey. April Castar. Septimus Harlin. Hazel Rhona. The four of you retrieved the ash-wood hourglass relics. From now on, you will be known as Team AASH," this got a small chuckle from the group, "Led by… Aaron Grey." The leader, a silver-haired boy, smiled as he and his new teammates left the stage.

THe next group got called up. "Coco Adel. Fox Alistair. Velvet Scarlatina. Yatsuhashi Daichi. The four of you retrieved the Mistrali Brownwood hourglass relics. From now on, you will be known as Team CFVY. Led by… Coco Adel." The fashionista raised an eyebrow at the unexpected choice.

"And finally, Felix Fawkes, Indigo Allisandra, Raven Erom, and Eskay James. The four of you retrieved the Drakkar Gold hourglass relics." Indigo blinked. She distinctly remembered Raven and Eskay having a different hourglass, one filled with Gravity Dust. She looked at Raven, who looked suspiciously innocent.

"From now on," Ozpin continued, "you will be known as Team FIRE. Led by…" The headmaster shared a discreet look with Eskay. "... Felix Fawkes." All but one of the students congratulated their new leader. Eskay, however, just stared at Ozpin. The two of them maintained eye contact, until the headmaster looked away. Eskay smiled.

* * *

 _Later…_

Indigo checked her new Scroll. "Room 343. This is us." She fished for her key.

Felix set down his load of luggage. "Are you sure? I don't wanna carry all this across the school."

"Well, we can't do it," said Raven. "You're the only one strong enough to lift all of them."

"That doesn't mean I have to carry _every last one of Eskay's cases!_ "

"They're not that heavy," said the assassin.

"Door's open," interrupted Indigo.

Team FIRE entered what would be their home for the next four years. Each one reacted differently to the room. Felix, for instance, was _very_ happy to see that it was co-ed. Indigo was skeptical about the limited space they had to work with. Raven was content knowing that they had a window leading to a large open space. As for Eskay, he liked the room. Its size would make it easy to keep an eye on his teammates.

"Well, it seems my first decision as team leader is to choose where we'll sleep," declared Felix. "So, to strengthen team cohesion, we'll all be sleeping next to our partners."

"Raven and I will take the two beds closest to the window," vetoed Indigo.

"Dibs!" Raven jumped onto the bed next to the window.

Felix sighed and laid his things on one of the remaining beds. "You snore, Eskay?"

The assassin piled his luggage near his bed. "No." His school-issued Scroll rang. He slid it open. "Eskay James." He listened. "Right now?" He nodded. "Understood." He pocketed the Scroll. "If you'll excuse me, Headmaster Ozpin needs me in his office." With that, Eskay left, leaving his team to sort out their new room.

Felix watched the door swing shut after his partner. "That kid really makes no sense," he commented.

Indigo started taking things out of her suitcases and laying them on her bed. "He gets the job done."

Raven laid back. "Well, what else do you expect from an Omega?"

Both of her remaining partners popped up. "What?"

"Eskay's an Omega." Raven looked from Indigo to Felix. "Did you… not know that?"

"I certainly didn't," said Indigo.

"Omega…" Felix muttered aloud. "So every one of us is from the Corporation…"

"You're right," Indigo realized.

"I don't like this," said Raven. "There's coincidence, and then there's putting four Crimson Huntsmen in one team out of hundreds of students." She glared at the door. "That Ozpin character is up to something."

Felix smirked. "Well, if everything they say about Omega is true, he may have just met his match." He looked at Indigo. "Hey, you looking for something?"

His partner pulled her hands out of her bag. "I ran out of ammo during Initiation."

"...And?"

"I never run out. I even made sure to pack extra magazines before we went to the cliff." Indigo started sounding distressed.

Felix looked around. "Well, what do they look like?"

His partner held up her hands. "About this big. They're purple with two black chains stamped on it."

Felix spotted a shape jutting out of Raven's pocket. He gestured to it. "Anything like that?"

The Faunus sheepishly pulled a purple rectangle out of her pocket. "I can expl-" Raven's pleas died in her throat as a purple chain wrapped around her waist. Indigo yanked her partner across the room and into her fist. Her knuckles connected with her partner's jaw, knocking the Faunus onto the ground. Raven shook her head, trying to clear her vision. She blinked, and Indigo was pointing Seivo Nara between her eyes.

"Let me make something clear, you filthy little Faunus. No one touches my things unless they have my _express permission_. Do I make myself clear?" Suddenly, the sniper was yanked back into a headlock, courtesy of Felix.

"And if you so much as _think_ of doing something like that, I will snap you, along with your stuff, in half," Felix snarled. "How's _that_ for clear?"

As darkness surrounded Indigo's vision, she tried to break out of her partner's grip. "You wouldn't… you're all talk…" The sniper slowly went limp in Felix's arms.

With uncharacteristic silence, Felix carried Indigo to her bed and set her down on the blanket. For a while, no one in the room moved. Raven watched Felix from the ground, too shocked to move. "Why did she have to turn to insults," Felix asked idly. "It was just a few bullets."

Raven averted her eyes. "I stole from her. It's not that much of an overreaction."

"She attacked you. Insulted you."

Raven rose to her feet, picking up Seivo Nara. "It's fine. I'm used to it at this point." She leaned the rifle against Indigo's bed. "It's not the first time this has come up."

Felix sighed. "That's it. I need a drink."

"As in, alcohol?"

The fox Faunus dug through his luggage and pulled out a bottle. Then he withdrew another. And then another, until he had laid out a good two dozen different drinks. "You tell me." He carried the bottles over to the dorm's kitchen area and started sorting them out. "You want anything?"

"Hang on, how'd you get alcohol into a school?"

Felix whipped out a metal shaker and started pouring into it from various bottles. "Yeah, turns out they don't even check for stuff like this."

Raven pulled up a chair. "I don't suppose you have something to help me fall asleep?"

"Way ahead of you." With a masterful flourish, Felix made his partner a tall glass of blue liquid and passed it to her, then poured himself a drink straight from one of his bottles. "How does a Mayweather Clear sound? Just the thing to calm down after a long, hard day." As a finishing touch, he tapped both of their glasses, and condensation appeared out of nowhere. "I threw in a little Ice Dust for extra kick." He winked and raised his drink.

Raven tapped her cup against his own and took a sip. She took another. Whatever was in a Mayweather, it was pretty damn good. Especially the Ice Dust. It numbed the burning from the alcohol, letting her taste the other ingredients in their fullness. She downed the rest of the drink. "Thanks," she sighed. "I think I needed that."

"You might want to get into bed now, before the drink really hits you."

Raven started nodding, but slowed as moving started feeling harder, like she was underwater. Her eyelids felt heavy too. Slowly, she started to droop.

Felix blurred gold, catching his already-comatose partner before she hit the floor. "Maybe I overdid it," he said to himself as he carried Raven to her bed. "Huh. You're really light. No wonder the Mayweather hit you so hard." For the second time that night, Felix laid an unconscious teammate in bed.

Now alone, the Faunus took time to really look at the room. It wasn't bad, he'd certainly been in worse. The only real problem was the team. If tonight was any indication, it was only a matter of time until no room would be big enough to keep them from attacking each other.

Felix sighed, and did what he did best: make himself a very strong drink.

* * *

 _Elsewhere…_

Three minutes. It took three minutes for Eskay to get from his team's dorm to the headmaster's office. Considering the enormity of the school, that couldn't be a coincidence.

"Mister James, it's a pleasure to see you again," said Ozpin as the elevator to his office opened. He was sitting at his desk, with a chessboard set up in front of him. "Do have a seat." He smiled.

As Eskay sat down, he realized that he still needed to check the dorm for bugs. He'd have to finish this quick to minimize the risk of Ozpin learning secrets from Team FIRE.

The headmaster pushed the board towards Eskay. "Which side would you prefer, black or white?"

"You called me up here to play a game with you?"

Ozpin idly touched the black queen. "Partially. Mainly, I was hoping to talk face to face."

Eskay narrowed his eyes. "Black."

The teacher gladly turned the board around so that the black side was facing Eskay. "I've always felt that white's moving first make it easier to control the game as a whole." He advanced a pawn two spaces. The marble figure _click_ ed against the stone board.

Eskay matched Ozpin's move. _Click_. "All it does is make you reveal your intentions before your opponent."

 _Click_. "In the right hands, even that can become an advantage."

 _Click._ "How?"

Ozpin knocked over one of Eskay's pawns. "Misdirection," He answered simply.

Eskay glared at his opponent. "How many games are you trying to play?"

Ozpin gave the assassin his most irksome smile. "As many as I need."

"...What do you want?"

"I am a teacher. I want to share information."

"And in return, you want me to answer any questions you may have about me and the Corporation, yes?"

"Anything you'd be willing to share."

Eskay captured one of Ozpin's knights. "A secret for a secret."

 _Click_. "Again, if you're willing."

 _Click/Click._ The game started moving faster. "I am."

 _Click/Click._ The pieces started moving faster, without pause. "Take off that mask, and I'll answer anything you like."

In response, Eskay took off the Beringel skull to reveal…

A vaguely handsome face. It had some scars, but Ozpin had seen much worse in his time.

Eskay _click_ ed his bishop forward. "How much of the school do you keep under surveillance?"

"Public areas and hallways only. We do have a privacy clause, after all." _Click/Click_. "Why do you wear that mask? Surely it can't be just for the scars."

 _Click/Click_. "It's so that out of everything people see of me, the mask will be the only thing they can remember. Not my height, not my weight, not my voice. After a change of clothes, I can pass undetected while everyone looks for a masked marauder." He put the mask back on. "Why did you put Raven and I in a team with Felix and Indigo if we got different relics?"

 _Click/Click._ "Whatever do you mean? Raven had the other Drakkar Gold hourglass in her pocket when she got back to Beacon." _Click/Click._

Eskay eyed the chessboard. "You use Castling?"

Ozpin grinned. "When a leader is under fire, the safest course of action is to put him out of harm's way."

 _Click_. "It won't save you, though."

"It doesn't have to," said Ozpin. _Click._ "Check and mate. As I said, misdirection."

Eskay looked at his King. "A pawn?"

The headmaster nodded. "The most important piece can be vulnerable to a player that knows how to properly use their pawns."

The assassin nodded. "The same can be said for more than board games."

"Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. Out of eight pawns, you can change the course of the whole game with just one."

"Team CFVY may well be under your thumb, but I doubt you will find FIRE to be quite so meek."

Ozpin hummed. "Meek, hmm? Did you know that, while a tad archaic, one definition of that word is 'power under control, a willingness to submit yourself to the needs of others'? I always found that interesting." He smiled. "But it is getting late, and we both have much to do."

Eskay got up. "So be it. Maybe we should do this again. I feel it would be very beneficial for the both of us."

As the assassin once again left Ozpin's office, the headmaster made himself some coffee. He would need it for the call he was going to make.

 _In an undisclosed location…_

A phone rang once, and was picked up.

"Have you found anything?" The speaker listened to the other end.

"Interesting… I'll make a note of that." The person he was talking to asked a question.

"No, it's best if you keep meeting with him. I'm sure it can help us learn something about him and his… organization. Thank you for this."

The speaker ended the call and put the phone away. He picked up a file labeled with a red "C" and wrote in it.

He lit a cigarette and took a long drag from it. For a minute, he sat stiller than a statue. Then, slowly, a grin formed on his face.

 **Song: Thnks fr th Mmrs**

 **Artist: Fall Out Boy**

 **Album: Infinity on High**

* * *

 **Aaand done! This is the longest chapter I've ever written, at over 8 thousand words, so if there are any errors, feel free to let me know.**

 **But until then, this is FoxHunt5, signing off!**


	3. I am Flesh

**I think my chapters are getting progressively longer... which is why my chapters are taking longer and longer to upload...**

 **Either way, here's another chapter. Enjoy :)**

 **Oh, I almost forgot to mention! I had to make up a language. Anytime I use a word from that language, it'll be italicized, and a translation will be at the bottom.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. If it were otherwise, Neo would be voiced by Casey Lee Williams.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3:** I am Flesh (And I am Bone)

" _Dale, do you miss Cy?"_

 _Avondale Dalton looked up from his work. He shrugged. "Sometimes. We weren't all that close, though." He went back to his tinkering. "Why do you ask?"_

 _The girl who had asked the question laid back in a cot. "Some of the boys were talking about her today during practice. They said that today would have been her birthday."_

 _Avondale picked up a flatheaded screwdriver. "That so? That would make her, what, 21?"_

" _22, they said."_

 _Avondale chuckled. "Seems like just yesterday we signed on as your den mommas."_

 _This elicited a quiet giggle. "You're not my den momma!"_

 _The not-a-den-momma feigned confusion. "What? That's what I called my leader."_

" _But you had a girl! You're a guy!"_

 _Avondale sighed and tightened a loose screw. "You always take the fun out of everything, don't you Allie?"_

 _Allie rested her head in her hands. "Only when I get bored."_

" _How do I make you not bored, then?"_

 _Allie perked up. "Can you tell me a story?"_

 _Avondale looked away from his project. "If I tell you a story, do you promise to go right to sleep?" Allie nodded. "Alright, then." He turned his chair to face her. "What do you want to hear?"_

 _Allie thought for a moment. "Did you have a favorite story growing up?"_

 _Avondale leaned back. "_ My _favorite story? Hmm…" He snapped his fingers. "Oh, here's one my den momma told me! There once was a Grimm who was very lonely-"_

" _Why was it lonely?" Allie interrupted._

" _His fellow Grimm shunned him because he was too much like a human. But because he was a Grimm, he couldn't be with humans."_

" _Did Huntsmen chase it down?"_

" _The Grimm went to a pool of water only he knew how to find. There, he sat and cried tears of loneliness. His tears turned the pool black as he poured out every ounce of emotion he had kept bottled up. When he finally rose from the pool, the Grimm realized that he had changed. Instead of black, his skin was a stark white, and he could think clear, clearer than any Grimm. But that was not the only change. As the Grimm studied himself, the blackened water around him lifted up and drifted around him. The Grimm was surprised to find that his emotion had granted life to the pool. And because the Grimm was the one who had given awoken it, the living water stayed with him until the end of his days." Avondale sighed. "Just like us. We think with our heads and feel with our hearts, but we can never have one without the other." He smiled. "The end."_

 _Allie lied down. "I don't get it."_

 _Avondale reached over and tucked the girl in. "Don't worry about it. You'll figure it out one day."_

* * *

Everyone who has had the opportunity to watch the sun rise likely has their own opinion on the phenomenon. Some greet the morning with joy and hopeful optimism. Some find themselves filled with an inner peace.

And sometimes, people wake up with a headlock-induced migraine that makes every heartbeat feel like a blow from a red-hot warhammer, which generally makes the sun more of an annoyance than anything else.

"Morning, Indigo." The sniper heard a voice. Fawkes. "There's a cup of ice water on the bedside table. It should help."

Indigo saw the glass he was talking about. She pressed it against her forehead gently. "What time is it?"

"'Bout 7 a.m." said Felix from another room.

Indigo looked around and realized that it was empty. "Where are the others?"

Felix entered wearing an apron and carrying a steaming pan. He set it down on what looked like four desks put together to make a table. "Oh, they went to the kitchens to get some grapefruit juice. You'd never guess, but Eskay is all but addicted to the stuff." He retreated into the kitchen.

Indigo sat at one of four chairs and pressed the cool glass against her forehead. Felix returned bearing plates of toast and waffles. He set them on the table and sat across from Indigo. "Hey, Indigo. I know you just woke up, but I need to make sure of something. I think we need to have a talk."

Indigo sighed and removed the cup from her head. "I apologize for my behavior last night. It was out of line and unbecoming of me."

Felix held up his hand. "You can stop right there. I don't wanna hear it." He leaned forward, a serious look on his face. "I want to know if you can work with a Faunus. With Raven."

His teammate looked indignant. "I'm not the type to let prejudice get in the way of work."

"Well, that's good." Felix started piling waffles on his plate.

Indigo glared at him. "Have the decency to wait for the others, will you?"

The fox looked sheepish. "Sorry. Forgot about that." His ears perked up. "Oh, here they come!"

True to his word, Eskay and Raven entered seconds later bearing cartons of juice.

"Hey, Indy." Raven put one of the cartons on the table. "How's Felix's cooking?"

"Haven't started it," said Felix.

Eskay sat to the right of Indigo. "That's very kind of you," he said, putting a napkin on his lap.

Indigo shrugged. "More common courtesy than anything." She opened the juice carton and filled Eskay's cup.

Raven plopped herself across from her partner. "Was that 'common courtesy' too?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

Felix began drenching his waffles in syrup. "Eat up, everyone, before it gets cold."

Eskay counted the waffles on Felix's plate. "That's quite a stack," he noted, taking one more waffle than that and putting it on his own plate. "Bet I can beat it."

Felix grinned at Eskay. "I don't think you should be eating with that mask on," he said. "It'll get in the way and just get all messy."

With one hand, the assassin took off his mask, not once breaking eye contact with his leader. "Ready when you are." Then, as one, they both started wolfing-or foxing-down their breakfasts.

Indigo stared at Eskay's face. _That's… not what I was expecting_ , she thought.

Raven studied the sniper's face. In her head, a perverted thought took root. "Man," she whispered, "I sure didn't expect Eskay to be such a looker."

Indigo nodded idly, then realized what Raven just said. She shook her head. "To each their own," she said, trying to cover up.

In response, Raven just smiled and pushed the plate of waffles towards Felix.

 _This_ , she thought, _was going to be an interesting breakfast_.

* * *

 _Later…_

"The count stands with Felix having eaten 17 ½ waffles, and Eskay with 18," Raven declared.

Felix's head hit the table in defeat. "Arrgh…"

"However," she continued dramatically, "the pieces of bacon that made their way onto our leader's plate have not gone unnoticed!" Felix looked up. "And when added to the waffles, the total amount of food eaten matches that of Eskay!"

Eskay raised an empty glass. "If we're going by the total amount of food, I drank double what Felix did."

Felix grinned sheepishly. "Ya know, usually it's the other way around."

"Eskay makes a fair point," said Raven. "He is the winner!"

Indigo checked her watch. "Alright, let's clean up the table. Classes begin in one hour. And I need to use the shower."

"Nice rhyme," said Raven.

"Seeing as we only have one bathroom," continued Indigo, "We'll have to take turns. If there's no objections, I'd like to go first."

"Second," said Felix.

"I'll go after Felix," jumped in Raven.

"Then I'll go last." Eskay stood and picked up his plate. The rest of FIRE followed suit, clearing off the table until only the frying pan in the center remained.

"Hey, Felix?" Raven tried to wrench up the pan. "Did you remember to put down a hot plate?"

The Faunus inspected the pan. "I've never really used one, so no."

Indigo glared at her leader. "You realize that can ruin both the pan and the table?"

"Oh, hush. I'm sure it'll be fine." Felix gripped the handle of the pan and channeled his Semblance. With a sharp yank, the Faunus ripped it off of the table. Along with some of the plastic from the desks. Where the pan had been, the four desks had fused together at the corners.

Indigo pinched the bridge of her nose. "See if you can pull them apart. I'd prefer to sit at my own desk." She went into the bathroom and shut the door.

Eskay watched the scene unfold from his bed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an undersized journal. He turned to the next blank page and started writing.

 _Day 2 as Team "FIRE", morning: Tensions appear to be rising between Indigo Allisandra and Felix Fawkes. She seems intent on proving that she's the best, taking every opportunity to put him down. It may be too early to say for sure if this is nothing, though._

Eskay tapped the pencil's eraser to his lips, thinking of his next move.

 _With a job this important, it would be best to err on the side of caution, I think. I'll try to build relationships with my team, make sure that even if they separate from each other, they'll be willing to stay by me. Fortunately, I judged Felix Fawkes correctly. He is highly competitive by nature. This made it easy to start a friendship with him. All I had to do was prove a worthy challenger. Furthermore, Indigo seemed to take a greater interest in me after I took off my mask. Perhaps with a touch of romance, I can ensure she'll stay with the team. And as for Raven, she should be easy to take in, so long as I keep her interested._

The assassin sighed and closed the journal. He would have to take matters into his own hands.

* * *

 _Later…_

Indigo closed the bathroom door. The cold air hit her all at once, making her shiver. She picked her uniform off a hanger. She looked around to make sure no one was watching, then started changing. As she finished buttoning up her jacket, Eskay-still not wearing his mask-entered carrying a rolled-up curtain.

"Ah, Indigo. Could you help me out with this?" He asked.

Indigo tied her string bow tie and accepted the curtain. "What is this for?"

Eskay grabbed a chair. "I thought we could use it to divide the boys' side of the room from the girls'."

Indigo tapped the curtain idly. "You know… if I had learned a week ago that I would be working with an Omega, I never would have believed it."

Her teammate shrugged. "Stranger things have happened. Curtain."

Indigo passed the bundle up to Eskay. "I suppose. But… I have to ask, why are you-"

"-So normal?" Eskay started sliding metal hooks into a ceiling slider. "Why am I not some brooding ball of gloom and angst?"

"Well… yeah." Indigo adjusted her blazer self consciously.

"It's something I get asked a lot. Me and the other Omega kids. But honestly, we're not that different from everyone else. We just have different skill sets. It is good to have an intimidating reputation, though."

"Is Omega really that much like the other camps?"

Eskay slid the curtain back and forth. "Recite why Director Crimsonite founded the Corporation."

"To encourage and inspire progress in a stagnating world," quoted Indigo. "To push that world forward without the shackles of its laws or morals. To save Remnant and her people at any cost."

Eskay nodded. "In Omega Camp, we're described as Remnant's shepherds and her butchers, for she needs both. We follow the so-called Crimson Ultimatum to the letter. In short, we make the choices no one else could. Progress or regression. Help or hurt. Life or death. That's our way of life at Omega."

Indigo looked at the assassin in stark fascination. "When I was at Delta, they described Omega as the 'Director's Right Hand'."

Eskay hopped off the chair. "That's not a bad name, all in all."

Out of nowhere, Felix appeared, resting his arm on Eskay's shoulder. "Where'd you get that?"

Eskay moved the chair back to the table. "You can request them for co-ed dorms. The ceiling is built specifically for them."

Felix nodded. "Makes sense. Better than Raven's idea of a wall." He looked at the curtain for a moment, then shrugged and went into the bathroom. "Looks good."

Indigo narrowed her eyes at the closed door. "I don't get it."

"What don't you get?" asked Eskay.

"Yesterday in the forest, Fawkes was everything a leader should be: clever, practical, and quick to action. But the minute we got back…" Indigo sighed and shook her head.

"Time reveals the true faces of all men," said Eskay.

Indigo sat on her bed. "You would know."

Her partner traced patterns in the warped desks. "In Omega, they taught us to hide in plain sight. The mask I wear keeps people from remembering anything else about me."

"Then why let us see you without it?"

"No team can function unless it's founded on trust," said Eskay. "I know for a fact they taught you that in Delta Camp."

Indigo lifted Seivo Nara and inspected it. "Let me guess. You think I should trust Fawkes to be a good leader."

Inwardly, Eskay smiled. "I just think you should give him a chance. For the good of the team."

Indigo began meticulously cleaning her rifle. "I… will try, if only for his actions in the forest."

Her partner nodded. "That's enough for me." He pull a suitcase out from under his bed and sat next to Indigo.

She looked at the case. "What's that?"

The assassin clicked open the suitcase, revealing an array of small devices. Indigo recognized them as Mech-Shift maintenance tools. "Mind if I take a look at Seivo's shifter?"

Indigo hesitated, but slowly passed him the rifle. "I assume you know what you're doing?"

Eskay smiled and accepted the weapon. "I always do."

Just outside the dorm's window, Raven sat unobserved, holding a sketchbook. Watching the scene, she flipped to a new page and started drawing.

* * *

When Ozpin first spoke with Eskay, the headmaster had brought up a valid point: whenever Eskay had a target, he would always gather intel on them first to make his job easier.

In a hidden journal was the following entry:

 _Indigo Allisandra- lost mentor at a young age, along with her closest friends during a Dust mine raid gone wrong. The subsequent trauma has led to Indigo having a complex outlook on relationships. On one hand, she places more value on object than people, likely to avoid experiencing loss like that again. On the other hand, she wants to be able to form connections the way she did before, but not show emotion to anyone she doesn't trust._

 _Point of interest: If someone seems to think the same way as her, perhaps know what's on her mind accurately, she's more likely to trust them. A little psychoanalysis, and I should be able to exploit her feelings to my will._

* * *

 _Later…_

"Hey, Indigo," called Felix from the kitchen, "can you find Raven and tell her to get ready for class?"

Indigo set her rifle down. Before she could get up, the window opened and Raven entered the room. She put a sketchbook away under her bed. "What time is it?"

"8:45," said Eskay from his bed. The assassin, now in his uniform, was cleaning and polishing his mask.

Felix entered the room wearing his uniform. He pulled out his Scroll. "Alright, team. Our schedule is as follows: at 9, we have Metalworking with Professor Geirhart. At 10:05, we have Physical Education with Professor Vermilion. After that is lunch and free period." He scrolled down. "Then we have history with Professor Oobleck-"

Across the school, someone yelled "Doctor!"

"-Grimm Studies with Professor Port, and Combat Training with Professor Goodwitch." Felix looked up. "Oh, and we have _all_ these classes together."

"It may be good for team cohesion," offered Indigo.

Raven got up and stretched. "Well, let's make like a baby and head out."

Felix laughed. "Let's make like a tree and leaf?"

Indigo walked out of the dorm. "You're both terrible."

* * *

 _Later…_

Steam rose from Beacon's east pavilion, known to most as the Beacon Smithy. FIRE stood just outside it, watching an ebony-haired woman feed wood into a fire.

"Do we let her keep working?" Felix wondered aloud.

The woman stopped and turned, only her eyes visible through a metal face guard. She lifted the mask, showing an ash-stained face and emerald eyes. She looked at the students, confused. "Who are you?"

"Team FIRE," Felix replied simply.

The woman started moving around the smithy. "That's a weird name. What are you doing here?"

Felix looked at his teammates, but they looked as unsure as he was. "We're your first class?"

The woman picked up a pair of tongs. "You shouldn't be here for a few hours."

"Professor Geirhart-" started Indigo.

"Please, call me Brianna."

"...Brianna. It's 8:55."auralknights

"It is?" Brianna looked at her wrist. "Huh. Time sure does fly." She glanced around the smithy. "Wait, shouldn't there be more of you?"

As if on cue, a throng of students came out of the school into the forge.

"Oh, okay." Brianna put down the tongs and threw off a thick pair of gloves. She cleared her throat. "So, if all of you could just come over here, that'd be great." The class entered the smithy and grouped around her. "Thaank you." She cleared her throat. As an afterthought, she took off her faceplate and tried to tidy up her hair. "So, hello everyone. I'm Professor Geirhart, but you can just call me Brianna. Or Bri. We'll be together for at least a year, so let's not keep it formal, okay? I don't want it to get stiff."

Felix chuckled at that.

"But make no mistake," Brianna continued, "I want this to be a legit class. You're here to learn, and I'm here to teach you. Hopefully, we'll get through this year safely. We'll be working with metal hot enough to cut through Aura, then mixing it with unique alloys to make it even stronger."

"Such as?" asked a student.

"Here, lemme show you. Back up, everyone." The class retreated as Brianna put on her face guard and gloves. She took the tongs from before and reached them into the forge. She waved everyone back. "I'm serious, guys. This stuff is dangerous, and I don't wanna send anyone to the nurse on the first day!" Once she had sufficient room, Brianna reached the tongs into the fire and withdrew a white-hot metal bar. Carefully, put it onto a nearby anvil. "This is Valastil," she said, pointing at it with her tongs. "A rare alloy that has the unique ability to absorb and channel Aura." Brianna grabbed a hammer and started shaping the Valastil. "And-and this is the good part- I'll be giving it as a reward to the team that performs best in this class."

"Do you mean the team that gets the best grades," asked the same student from before, "or the team that does the best work?"

Brianna stopped hammering. "What'd you say your name was?"

"Aaron Grey."

"Oh, okay." Brianna resumed her work. "To answer your question, yes and no. Grades will be a part of it, but considering those are based on a handful of quizzes, it won't be too hard. But I want to see you guys take some initiative, make your own stuff." She returned the Valastil to the forge. "Every class period, you'll get about an hour to work on in-class projects, some of which I'll set guidelines for."

"What sort of projects?" Raven asked..

Brianna stopped moving, raised her face plate, and stared at Raven. After a second, she shook her head. "Um, whatever you want, so long as it's in the, uh, category. What matters is that you learn how to use the tools of a blacksmith."

"And at the end of the year, we get Valastil?"

Brianna lowered her mask and looked put away her hammer. "It can be. At the end of the semester, I'll be giving handmade weapons and armor to the best-performing team. I'll be using the highest quality materials, built to last all through their life as a Huntsman." She cleared her throat. "So… any more questions?"

"One more," said Raven. "How will you judge our work?"

Brianna sighed. "Trust me, I'm good at seeing things for what they really are." Before anyone could ask what she meant, she continued talking. "Now, who knows what a crucible is?"

* * *

 _Later…_

"Did she seem... strange to any of you?" asked Indigo as her team left the smithy and headed to second period.

Raven smiled. "She seemed awesome. She definitely knows what she's doing." She looked at Felix. "Where to next?"

"P.E. with Professor Vermilion, and then lunch." The Faunus checked his Scroll. "Oh, hey! The classroom's right here. That's convenient." He opened a set of double doors. Inside was a half-filled room of students. Felix looked at his Scroll again. "This… doesn't look like P.E."

"There's a reason for that." A strawberry blonde man in scuffed brown clothing pushed through FIRE. "Take your seats," he said, "but I wouldn't bother getting comfortable." The man walked briskly down to the front of the classroom and wrote "Mr. Vermilion" on the board. "Good morning, class. Welcome to Survival 101."

A random student raised their hand. "I thought this was Physical Education."

Vermilion nodded. "It is, in a way. It counts as a P.E. credit, but it's more focused towards one subject. If you want to switch out, though…"

"I'm good, thanks."

"In that case, let me tell you all now that this class isn't a walk in the park. You're going to have to do what countless colonies have failed to accomplish: Survive in Grimm-infested areas without help from the nearest kingdom." Vermilion picked up an axe and opened a door leading outside. "Now, please follow me." Professor Vermilion picked up a nearby axe and opened a door leading out of the school. Uncertain, the class followed his lead to a stone stairway carved into Beacon's cliff face. Once they reached the bottom, the professor started lecturing them. "There are many species of Grimm surrounding Vale and Beacon. These include Aslans, Deathstalkers, and Nevermores. These are considered to be tough enemies on their own, but when combined with factors like dehydration or malnourishment, they can be deadly." He looked over his shoulder. "That's why I'm here to teach you how to survive out on your own. Today we'll start off simple. How to tell what you can eat, how to forage for food, et cetera. Any questions?" When no one answered, Professor Vermilion shrugged and crouched in front of a bush. "Alright, now listen closely…"

* * *

 _Later…_

Indigo watched her class from behind as Professor Vermilion explained the basics of finding food, something that she had already learned back at home. The sniper idly gazed at her classmates and picked out the ones who were paying the most attention to the lesson. They'd be the least experienced, and the easiest to overcome.

At the edge of the group, Felix looked over his shoulder at his partner. He, too, had learned all about wilderness survival. Something was bothering him, a rusting he could barely hear. He looked around again.

Suddenly, the Faunus's eyes shot wide open. He ran towards Indigo, activating his Semblance and leaping clear over the sniper. Indigo looked up and saw Felix collide with a white shape and send it into the ground. In a split second, Professor Vermilion spun around and threw a knife at the amorphous shape. It let out a squeal, then fell limp at Felix's feet.

The professor walked over to the Faunus and pulled his knife out of what looked like an armored boar. "Nice work, Fawkes." He pulled him up. "Between you and me, I didn't think anyone would notice it this time."

Felix looked at the decaying Grimm. "This time? Was this some sort of test?"

"It was indeed a test," the teacher grinned. "And you passed with colors all but flying. Well done."

"I don't- wait, how did you even plan this?"

"Oh, I do this with all my classes. Port and I have a deal, you see."

"What kind of test was that supposed to be?" asked Indigo. "You're putting your students' lives at risk."

"Yeah!" One of the students approached the professor. "We don't even have our weapons!"

"If no one had noticed the Grimm, I would have taken care of it," said Vermilion, cleaning and sheathing his knife. "But Felix saw it, so I know I don't have to go too easy on this class."

"That seems ineffective," commented Indigo. "You could only test one or two people at a time with this."

Professor Vermilion grinned. "Now that's the kind of thinking I like to see." He turned to the rest of the class, who were chatting about what had just happened. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hear that? I'm looking for critical thinking. Like finding your way home without your Scrolls. Good luck." While the class protested that that was unfair, Vermilion leaned against a tree and pulled a hood over his eyes. "Good luck. If you weren't paying attention before, you'll need it." He grinned.

Slowly, and with more than a few complaints, the students started splitting up, trying to find their way back to the school. Across from Felix and Indigo, Raven watched in amusement as her classmates bumbled around and started getting lost almost instantly.

"Ahem." Raven turned around to see a ginger girl with a bandana. "Hey feathers, think you could help me get a view over these trees?"

Raven drew in her wings slightly. "I dunno, I usually don't give rides to people when I don't even know their name."

"Oh, right." The girl whipped off her bandana and took a bow. "Hazel Rhona, fourth member of team AASH and all-around pain in the arse." She looked up at Raven. "Et tu?"

"Raven Erom, the third member of team FIRE and thief of hearts," she replied smoothly.

Hazel grinned. "Pleasure ta meet ya, feathers." She pulled her headgear back on. "Anyways, I was wondering if you and I could take the high road home, maybe get ta know each other."

"You don't want to walk, do you?"

The ginger slumped a bit. "Eh, pretty much."

"Okay." Raven shrugged and stood in front of Hazel. "Hold on tight." She wrapped her arms around the girl, who happily returned the gesture. Then, with a powerful surge that knocked down everyone nearby, the two of them lifted off the ground and into the trees. In a few quick flaps they came to a rest on top of a canopy.

"Wow," Hazel breathed as she looked around. "This is amazin'."

"I see Beacon." Raven pointed to the school.

Hazel grinned and started hopping across the tree branches. "Race ya!"

Raven smiled and slid something into her pocket. "Right behind you."

* * *

 _Later…_

Indigo checked her watch. "It's been 15 minutes, Fawkes. I don't think she's here."

Felix scanned the lunchroom. "She was there when we went over the schedule, wasn't she?"

"I haven't seen her since Survival class," noted Eskay.

"Ah _mote_ ," muttered Felix.

Indigo smacked the Faunus's forehead. "Hunters shouldn't use that sort of language! And that goes double for team leaders!"

Felix rubbed his head. "Dust, Indigo. A simple 'watch your language' would have need for violence."

Before Indigo could correct his language again, a red-haired girl approached them. "Hey, you team FIRE?"

"We are," said Eskay.

"I don't suppose you've seen Raven lately, have ya?"

"Not since our last class," said Felix. "Why, have you seen her?"

"No, I'm as clueless as you are."

"You a friend of Erom?" asked Indigo.

"Of Raven?" The girl hid a smile. "Not likely. I just want her to know that I look forward to breakin' her pretty little wings in combat class." She smiled. "Tell'er that for me, would ya?" With that, the girl walked away and joined her team.

"Still standing to the whole 'no need for violence' thing?" asked Indigo.

"Not the time, Indigo." Felix sighed. "We need to find Raven."

"Let's split up," said Eskay. "I'll check around our dorm."

"I'll can talk to Professor Geirhart," offered Indigo. "She seemed to take a liking to Erom."

"Then I'll... " Felix thought. "I'll ask Mr. Vermilion."

Indigo nodded. "Whoever finds her, call the others on their Scrolls." The three members of FIRE split, each going their own way.

 _Why was that girl after Erom?_ Indigo thought to herself. _Did she steal something from her, like she did with me? Perhaps she just hate Faunus. But then, she seemed fine with Felix…_

Indigo's feet guided her to the Beacon Smithy, where she saw Raven and Brianna sitting across from each other. The two of them were in the middle of an arm-wrestling competition. Raven was putting up a good fight from the looks of it, but still her hand kept going down.

"Ready to get beaten?" challenged Brianna.

Raven grinned. "As if!" The Faunus relaxed her arm for a split second, then slammed Brianna's hand into the table.

The blacksmith shook out her arm. "Thought I had you there."

"You did, but only a little." Raven reached out her other hand. "Maybe you're not used to having students that are stronger than you."

Brianna shook her hand and laughed. "As if! I was just getting a little tired."

Raven noticed Indigo. "Oh, hey Indy! What's up?"

Indigo typed a quick message on her Scroll. "You mean, aside from your disappearing without telling your team first?"

Brianna looked from Indigo to Raven. "Hold up, what? I thought you said they were okay with it!"

Raven scratched her neck. "Eh, I may have stretched the truth a little…"

"What were you doing here, Erom?" Indigo pressed.

"Oh, we were just comparing notes on smithing, that sort of thing."

Indigo raised an eyebrow. "And the arm wrestling?"

"That's something I do with my students," said Brianna. "I started doing it a few years back."

"There you are!" Felix appeared behind Indigo."Where'd you run off to, Raven?"

"She was just catching up with Brianna, from the looks of it," said Eskay, who was suddenly sitting near Raven and Brianna.

Felix jumped. " _Rent_ , Eskay! Don't do that!"

Indigo slapped him again. "Clean up your language, or I'll clean it for you."

Eskay cleared his throat. "Raven, do you know a redheaded girl?"

"Why, is that what you're into?"

"No, a red-haired student asked about you during lunch."

"Yeah, she seemed to have a real vendetta against you," added Felix.

"You see?" Indigo pointed at her leader. "You _can_ use big words!"

"What, vendetta? Vendetta's not a big word. Now 'patronizing', _that's_ a big word." Both Raven and Brianna started chuckling.

Eskay turned to his partner. "Raven, do you know who we met?"

"Did she have a bandana?"

"A black one, yes."

Raven nodded. "That'd be Hazel. She's not a problem." She patted Eskay's shoulder. "You don't have to watch out for little ol' me." With that, she hopped up and headed for the cafeteria. "Thanks for the match, Brianna," she called back.

"No problem!" The blacksmith gave her a thumbs-up. "Come by anytime!"

As the students followed Raven's lead, Brianna caught herself staring at the Faunus girl for the second time that day. She sighed and tried to get back to work.

* * *

 _Later…_

After lunch, time passed quickly for FIRE. They tried to keep up with Oobleck's ramblings and Port's ego, but in the end it all left them feeling drained. And so, after a quick show of skill from Eskay on a Boarbatusk, it was time for combat class with Glynda Goodwitch.

"Welcome, students," said Goodwitch as the class filled up the room. "As you likely know already, I am Professor Goodwitch. I will be teaching combat training for this year. "Please sit with your teammates in the stands."

"You ever wonder why we _sit_ in the _stands_?" Felix asked.

"Not the time, Fawkes."

"If I could have your attention awhile longer," continued Goodwitch, "we are about to begin class. Our first match will be a straightforward one-on-one bout. Now, could I have some volunteers, preferably from separate teams?" Raven and Hazel raised their hands together. Goodwitch tapped at her Scroll. "Very well. The two of you, go through that door into the locker room." She pointed beneath the stands. "Once you both are ready, we will start the match."

* * *

After a quick change, Ravne stood in the middle of the arena, bow at the ready. Across from her, Hazel was dressed in a puffy white shirt, black pants, tall maroon boots, and a dark green cloak. She tapped a metal rod calmly. "You're going to regret sending those pictures, feathers."

"Now what pictures would those be, pray tell?" Raven asked innocently.

"Be ready, students," interrupted Glynda. "The match starts in thirty seconds."

"You got this, Raven!" Felix cheered from the stands.

A buzzer sounded, marking the start of the fight. Raven nocked and fired an arrow at Hazel. Seconds before it hit, Hazel swung her staff, and the projectile exploded in midair. Raven followed up with a volley of arrows, clouding Hazel in smoke and dust.

Hazel charged out of the dust cloud bearing a pair of glowing red flintlocks. She fired one after the other at Raven, who parried the shots and started firing red-tipped arrows. In seconds, the entire arena was covered by smoke.

Undeterred, Hazel charged at her opponent, shifting her guns into staff form. "Take this!"

Raven sidestepped the blow, changing her own weapon into a sword and slashing at Hazel. The two weapons hit each other, clearing some of the smoke. Raven reached out and grabbed Hazel's weapon, surrounding it in a dark green glow. The Faunus followed with a kick to Hazel's stomach, knocking her into the smoke.

But before Raven could catch her breath, Hazel burst up out of the smoke screen, slamming her staff into the ground. The impact sent shockwaves through the arena, clearing it of smoke and knocking Raven into the air.

"I don't think so!" The Faunus started flying around Hazel, firing arrows from above. The redhead shifted her weapon back into her flintlocks. She aimed a few feet in front of the Faunus's path and fired. The moment she pulled the trigger, a _snap_ sounded through the arena. Hazel screamed and dropped her gun.

Raven landed in front of her opponent. "So… mind filling me about the pictures?"

"Damn you!" Hazel fired her second pistol, only to have her other arm _snap_ like the first. She fell to her knees. "What the hell, feathers?"

Raven smirked. "I think your guns need to be recalibrated. There's _way_ too much kickback." With that, she kicked Hazel to the ground and ended the match.

As the audience started clapping, Goodwitch entered the arena. "Well done, Raven. That was a clever use of your Semblance. However, I suggest you try to win without subversive tactics." The Faunus gave her a thumbs-up. "As for you, Hazel, do not let emotions drive your actions. I suggest learning to approach battle more calmly. Do not let your emotions lose the battle for you. That is all."

Raven picked up Hazel's flintlocks. "That was a good fight." She held out her weapons. "We should do this again." The redhead glared at Raven, then took her guns back without a word.

"We will now move on to the second round," said Goodwitch as the first two combatants went to the locker room to get changed. "Are there any more volunteers?" The room was silent.

"Very well," the professor sighed. "We will use a randomizer." She tapped her Scroll, bringing up two portraits and spinning them. They came to a stop on Eskay and a grey-haired boy.

"Eskay James and Aaron Grey," Goodwitch announced.

"Pardon me," said Aaron, "but isn't Eskay in the same team as Raven? If so, this is twice we've fought with them today!"

"The selection process is random," reminded Goodwitch. "I didn't alter the results. Now, please get changed and enter the arena."

Eskay rose and went to the locker room, Aaron right behind him. After getting changed, the two stood at opposite ends of the arena, Eskay in his suit and Aaron in aristocratic evening wear. As the timer counted down, both of them drew swords. Unlike yesterday, Eskay had a red-tinted longsword, while his opponent was brandishing a rapier.

Aaron studied Eskay. "What say we have a proper duel?"

Eskay's sword shifted into a rapier. "Fine by me."

Aaron laughed. "Let's begin." The buzzer went off. But rather than a sudden rush of attacks, the combatants approached each other slowly, cautiously. First Aaron swung high, then low, then middle. Eskay blocked the first two and dodged the third. He responded with two middle strikes and a high. Aaron blocked one, parried the second, and blocked the third. Then, a flurry of strikes from both swordsmen, stabbing and blocking and , Aaron spun around Eskay and tried to go for the assassin's legs. Eskay jumped back and raised his lowered his sword.

Aaron composed himself. "Tell me, why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid or something?"

Eskay shook his head. "Oh, no. It's just they're terribly useful. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future."

"Cheeky." Aaron resumed the fight, closing the space between them with a sudden stab.

Eskay sidestepped and knocked Aaron's sword aside. "You're quite the opponent."

"As are you," grinned Aaron. "You may even be better than me."

"Then why are you smiling?"

Aaron parried a stab from Eskay. "Because I know something you don't."

"I doubt it," Eskay said as he pressed the attack. "But you might as well tell me."

"I am not left-handed." Suddenly, a pistol appeared in Aaron's hand and he shot at Eskay's feet. In the opening this gave him, he switched hands and started fighting with renewed vigor. But still Eskay kept him mainly on the defensive.

"Shame," said the assassin over the clanging metal. "I actually am left-handed."

The two of them locked swords, raising sparks as the blades scraped against each other. "That's good to know." Aaron fired point-blank into Eskay's sword hand. The assassin yelled and dropped his weapon. Aaron kicked him square in the chest, then picked up Eskay's sword. He swung it back and forth, testing it. "This is a masterpiece," he said as he advanced.

Eskay rose to his feet. "It really is. Which is why I hate what happens when someone else thinks they can just pick it up."

Aaron stopped. "What do you-" Suddenly, bolts of electricity shot up through the sword. The duelist went stiff and fell flat on his back.

Eskay crouched in front of his downed opponent. He studied his arm. "Doesn't look permanent," he said. A wicked grin appeared on his face. "But this might be." The assassin picked up Aaron's gun and shot the swordsman's hand where he had been shot. With that final blow, the buzzer marked the end of the match.

"An enlightening performance, Mister James." Goodwitch walked over to the students. "However, next time, be wary of additional weapons. And Mister Grey, remember that Huntsmen fight to win, not to satisfy themselves." The professor ushered the two of them out of the arena. "It seems we have time for one more fight. If-"

"Teacher?" Felix raised his hand. "Can we nominate other people to fight us?"

Goodwitch pushed up her glasses. "I would ask that you not interrupt me, Mister Fawkes."

"But can we?" pressed Felix.

The professor sighed. "Only as long as the other student agrees to it. I assume you already have someone in mind?"

"Coco Adel of team CFVY," Felix declared.

Coco stood up. "I accept."

As the two got changed, Goodwitch pinched the bridge of her nose. "It seems today is all about team FIRE," she muttered.

Once out, Coco and Felix got into fighting stances. Felix raised his fists. "Care to count down, Miss Adel?"

Coco tightened her grip on her bag. "Three… two… one… go!" On 'go', her bag shifted into a minigun. A second later, a spike flew into the wall behind her, pulling Felix across the arena. Just before he hit Coco, Felix kicked aside her minigun, followed by a right hook.

Coco rolled with the attack, using the momentum to shift her gun back into a handbag and slamming it into Felix's side. The Faunus was sent rolling to the edge of the arena.

The fashionista brushed some dust off her sweater. "That really is a nice outfit." She changed her weapon back into a gun. "Almost a shame to ruin it."

Just as the barrage of bullets was about to hit Felix, the Faunus tapped into his Semblance to outrun Coco's attack. He blurred out of sight, then appeared behind Coco. He swept her legs out from under her, then followed with a backhand that sent the Huntress flying into the edge of the arena.

"Don't worry," the Faunus smirked, "Both me and my clothes will be just fine."

Suddenly, Coco's handbag flew through the air, striking Felix square in the head. The fashionista followed with a flurry of punches that sent Felix sliding across the floor.

Coco picked up her bag. "Come on, Felix. Is this really the best you have? I'm disappointed."

Felix got up and chuckled. "Oh, please. I'm just getting started!" The Faunus dashed forward, snatching Coco's handbag and using it to knock the fashionista to the ground. "And I rarely disappoint."

Coco responded by kicking out Felix's legs. Once he hit the floor, she flipped on top of him and pinned him down. "There's a first time for everything."

Felix grinned and activated his Semblance. "Get ready for another first." In one motion, Felix's head shot up, kissing the fashionista.

The audience exploded with gasps, whistles and cheers.

"Oh, Dust," swore Goodwitch. "Stop that!" She hurriedly tapped at her Scroll. "Do _not_ do this on the first day of school!"

Oblivious to her professor's exclamations, Coco got up, pulling Felix up with her. She smiled. "You're right, that was a first." With that, she drew back her fist and hit the Faunus into the far wall, shattering both his pride and his aura.

Goodwitch stormed into the arena. "Miss Adel, get changed. And Mister Fawkes…" she sighed and shook her head. "I have nothing to say to you." The professor flicked her riding crop, pulling Felix out of the wall. "Just… go." With that, Goodwitch stormed off, muttering something about "hormone-riddled teenagers."

Up in the stands, the students were buzzing with excitement. The second Felix and Coco exited the locker room, they were bombarded with questions.

"So do you not like Faunus?" asked a girl with scales.

"Is she a good kisser?" giggled another boy.

"She's too good for you."

"Who's gonna-"

"When will-"

The end bell rang, distracting the throng of students and letting teams FIRE and CFVY slip away. After a brief, albeit tense, walk, the two groups of students reached the cafeteria. Once there, Coco grabbed Felix's arm and forced him to sit. "You get dinner," she said to her team and Felix's. "I need to have a talk with Casanova here."

Once they were alone, Coco took off her sunglasses and stared down her nose at Felix. "You are almost terminally brave, you know that?"

Felix grinned. "This isn't the first time I've heard that."

"I'm sure." The fashionista sighed. "Look, Felix, you're a great guy and all that, but we just met days ago."

"I know," said Felix.

"Then please, fill me in. Just _what_ were you thinking back there?"

"I…" Felix scratched the back of his neck. "Truth is, I was planning to distract you, then use that to finish the fight."

"So what happened?"

Felix blushed. "Well… I underestimated how nice it would be to kiss you."

Coco sat back, stunned. "That… is not something I've heard often."

Felix's cheeks started turning as red as his hair. "I figured."

The two of them sat in silence. "Well, you are cute," said Coco. "And it'd be nice to get to know you a little better."

"Huh?"

Coco locked eyes with Felix. "I think I'm willing to try dating you, Felix, even if we just met."

Felix's eyes widened "Seriously?"

Coco tapped her chin in thought. "I'll go on one date with you. If it goes well, I'll go on another. Sound fair?"

Felix stammered. "I-you-I mean, are you sure?"

"Not really. But it might be fun, so I'm willing to give it a try." Coco smiled.

Felix slowly smiled back. "That sounds… delightful."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Indigo glared at the back of Raven's head. "Erom," she finally said, "what exactly did you do to Rhona?"

Hazel looked over her shoulder. "You mean Hazel?"

Indigo nodded. "She said you sent some pictures, yes?"

The Faunus shrugged. "Personally, I think she just needs more confidence. I bet tons of girls would kill for a body like hers. After all, the pictures were there, so why not help her build some confidence?"

Indigo blinked. "What?"

Eskay tapped her shoulder. "This." He pulled out his scroll and showed her a picture of-

Indigo looked away. "Well no wonder she reacted the way she did. That sort of thing is usually private. If- Wait, why do _you_ have it, James?"

Eskay pocketed his Scroll. "It's been going around the school like a virus."

Indigo looked back at Raven. "Would that happen to be your fault?"

"Line's moving forward," said Raven, hiding a smile. "Let's get some food."

Someone tapped on Indigo's shoulder. She turned around to see a Mistrali gladiator. "Yes?"

"You are part of team FIRE, yes?"

"I am."

"I'm Septimus Harlin, of-"

"Team AASH," the sniper interrupted. "I know."

"I mean you no harm," Septimus reassured her. "Neither Aaron's nor Hazel's wills are my own. I want to show you something."

Indigo narrowed her eyes. "If you're referring to what Raven did…"

"Allegedly!" said Raven.

"No, not that." The gladiator shivered. "Dust, no." He held out his hand. "I want to show you this."

Indigo looked at his hand. "A hand. Incredible. I've never seen that before."

"Please just…" Septimus struggled to keep his voice level. "Touch it, and you'll see what I mean."

Cautiously, Indigo took his han-

 _red violet black redblack on green tan maroon brown limegreen joins them all stuck in a web red violet black redblack burn web maroon flickers red violet black redblack fall into crimson sea black black black black red white black yellow_

Indigo blinked. "What… was that?"

Septimus lowered his hand. "My Semblance lets me see the future, to a degree. Sometimes, in battle, I can see what an opponent is about to do before they do it. But the further away an event is, the less clear it is."

Indigo flexed her hand. "So what I saw was…"

"Your future. Or at least, one of them."

"One of them?"

Septimus nodded. "The future is always changing. It's why my visions get more fuzzy the later they are."

"Why did you show me this?"

The gladiator shrugged. "It feels… important."

Indigo closed her eyes. _red white black yellow._ "Thank you, Harlin."

Septimus nodded. "If that is all, I'll be returning to my team now." He left the line to find his team.

Indigo tried to sort out what she was seeing. _red violet black redblack brown pink white_

Eskay looked at his teammate. "Are you alright?"

Indigo snapped back to reality. "I'm fine."

Eskay looked at her quizzically. "What did he show you?"

 _failure chaos defeat decay grimm death_ "Nothing important."

* * *

 _Later…_

Felix stood in front of FIRE's dorm room, patting his pockets. "Where is that damn key?" he muttered.

"Looking for this?" Someone dangled a key in front of Felix. He turned around to see Raven smiling. "You dropped it on your way over here."

Felix chuckled and accepted the key. "Thanks. I'd lose my head if it wasn't bolted on." He unlocked the door. "You coming in?"

Raven put her hand on her chest. "Only because you asked so politely." Se passed Felix and sat on her bed. "So… you and Coco?"

"Me and Coco," felix repeated, flopping onto his own bed.

"Were you two able to, you know, work things out?"

Felix shrugged. "I think so."

"Well then, are you, you know, together-together?" Raven pressed.

"I don't know," Felix mumbled.

"You don't know if you're in a relationship?"

Felix sighed and sat himself up. "She said that she was willing to give it a try. That was pretty much as far as we got before we ate. After that, she left to join her team."

"Speaking of teams, what do you think of our classmates?"

"Well it might be too early to say for sure, but I think I like CFVY more than AASH."

"Well for one thing you don't want to bang Aaron," Raven pointed out.

"Yeah, and-" Felix stopped and glared at his teammate. "Oh, very funny."

"I try," giggled Raven.

"Well, try to… be…" Felix faltered. "Less of an idiot!"

"Ooh, what a cutting retort," teased Raven."

Felix laid back down. "Shut up, I'm tired."

Raven sighed. "It's been a long day for both of us, I think."

Felix lifted his head off his pillow and looked at Raven's wings. "Hang on a sec, how do you sleep?"

"Pretty good, thanks for asking."

"I mean- gah! You're impossible!"

Raven laughed. "Thank you again. But to answer your question, I always have to sleep on my side, never on my back.

"That sounds... uncomfortable."

"Oh, it is _absolutely_ uncomfortable."

Felix thought to himself. "Are there any special Faunus beds?"

Raven gave Felix a flat look. "And how would you go about designing a bed that has rooms for wings and _not_ rip in half?"

"Well… um…" Felix sighed. "Okay, you got me. Maybe-" Felix's Scroll rang, derailing his train of thought. He picked it up. "Yello?" He listened to the other end. "But… I didn't give you my number. Really? There's a student directory? That's useful." He sat up. "So, what's up?"

"Who is that?" asked Raven.

Felix held up a finger and checked his watch. "What, now? Alright, I'll be right over." He closed his Scroll. "Sorry, Raven. Looks like Coco wants to talk to me."

"Got it. 'Talk'." Raven grinned as she made the air quotes.

"Come on, Raven," sighed Felix as he got up and left. "Don't make it like that."

"Lemme know if you need any tips," Raven called through the door.

"No thanks!"

"Oh, Felix," Raven chuckled to herself, "You are _way_ too much fun." Her eyes drifted to Eskay's baggage. A grin spread across her face. "And speaking of fun…"

* * *

 _Later…_

Up in his office, Ozpin was doing what he always did: watch the gears of Beacon Academy turn. Not the gears above him, but metaphorical gears that spanned the entire school. The students were like teeth, and their teams were the wheels that made them a whole.

He flipped through his various cameras' feeds. Glynda was indulging in her guilty pleasure: chocolate. Ozpin smiled. Despite all her warnings that too much coffee would "jolt his system", she had a worse problem with sugar than he would ever have with caffeine.

The elevator to his office dinged and slid open. Eskay stepped out. "Ozpin. You wanted to see me." It wasn't a question.

"Well, not exactly," said Ozpin, putting away his tablet. "But I do have more to talk about."

"Like this?" Eskay pulled a length of wire out of his suit jacket and put it on the desk.

"I had hoped we could discuss that, yes," Ozpin admitted.

Eskay sneered. "Don't do that."

Eskay raised his eyebrow. "Tell me, what is it you don't want to do?"

"Act like you're better than me."

"I see," said Ozpin. "And between the two of us, which is headmaster of Beacon?"

"Which of us puts listening devices into their students' uniforms?"

Ozpin put his hands on the desk. "Mister James, please see this from my perspective. You and your team may well threaten the safety of this school. Certain precautions had to be taken."

Eskay sneered through his mask. " _Mote_. If we were a danger, you would lock us up, not let us roam free. This," he said, picking up the wire, "is you trying to bug us for more information."

The headmaster sighed. "Mister James, please understand that I am not your enemy."

"I understand enough," said Eskay. "I understand that you take children and mold them into weapons, pretending that you care for them even as they die in your name."

"Are these your words," Ozpin said, narrowing his eyes, "or the words of your master?"

"They are my words _because_ they are my master's," said Eskay defiantly.

Ozpin tilted his head. "And what is your opinion of me?"

"You steal more lives than I ever could," said the assassin. "You lie to those who trust you, just so they'll be ready for the slaughter while you try to save your own skin. Because you're a coward, Headmaster. A coward and a monster."

Ozpin's eyebrow twitched. "Shame. And here I was hoping we could have another game of chess, but it seems you're not in the mood."

"What I'm in the mood for is a _real_ battle."

The headmaster peered at Eskay through his spectacles. "Is that really what you want, Mister James?"

Eskay nodded. "I'll prove to you that I'm not your sacrifice."

Ozpin smiled mirthlessly. "How about a bet, then? If I beat you, we'll continue our games of chess."

Eskay raised his eyebrow. "Is that all?"

"Well, I suppose it would be nice if you could have a more open opinion of me as well."

The assassin huffed. "And if I win?"

"I will gladly answer any questions about me, my school, and my past."

Eskay smiled. "You're putting a lot on the line. It almost makes me think you won't honor our deal."

"You don't trust me?"

Eskay shook his head. "A lie twice believed is self-deceived."

"Then I give you my oath as your _raganko_ ," said Ozpin, putting his hand on his chest. "Perhaps you will trust that."

Eskay's eyes widened. "You know Drakkar?"

The headmaster smiled. "A little. I was hoping you could teach me more this year."

For once, Eskay was impressed. "Perhaps I might. But for now, I recognize your oath, and am willing to fight."

"Excellent." Ozpin opened the elevator. "We'll use Glynda's arena, if it's open."

Eskay followed the headmaster into the elevator. _Something's different,_ he thought to himself. _Ozpin is carrying himself more like a warrior than a scholar. There may be more to him than meets to eye._

"You may not be entirely wrong about me," Ozpin admitted. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, perhaps more than any man has the right to make." The headmaster turned at looked at Eskay. "But you must know that my decisions were for the greater good."

"The greater good?' Eskay repeated. "You sound like a villain."

The elevator opened. "Well, I hardly see myself as a villain," Ozpin said as he stepped out.

"Your kind never do," said Eskay.

The two of them walked in silence until they reached Glynda's Ozpin had hoped, it was vacant. He and Eskay stood at opposite ends of the arena.

"This is your final warning, Eskay." Ozpin readied his cane. "I have no intention of losing."

Eskay drew his sword. "Shame we don't always get what we want." He pulled a knife from his suit and threw it at the headmaster. There was a green blur, and the knife fell to the ground, split down the middle.

"So it's true," Eskay said. "You can move faster than the eye can track."

Ozpin swung his cane up. "If you're intent on continuing this, you'll find I have greater skills than that."

Eskay shifted his sword into a gun. "We'll see," he said, vanishing from sight.

A sphere of green light surrounded Ozpin. "I saw your fight against Mister Grey. You were holding back, weren't you?"

A bullet shot out of the shadows, bouncing off of Ozpin's barrier. "I might have been," Eskay's voice echoed.

"Well, there's no need to hold back against me."

"Noted." Suddenly, a barrage of bullets came at Ozpin from all sides. Just like before, none came close to hitting him.

The headmaster brushed some dust off his sleeve. "Come now, Mister James. Surely you can-" Ozpin noticed that the 'dust' was white, with a hint of blue. He chuckled. "Now _that's_ clever." The Dust activated, covering Ozpin in a layer of solid ice.

Eskay appeared behind the frozen headmaster and aimed at his head. "Thank you."

Suddenly, the ice around Ozpin shattered, and the assassin was knocked head over heels by a flurry of attacks from the headmaster.

Ozpin whipped his can to the side. "Clever, but not overly effective."

Eskay rose to his feet. He could taste blood. "I've made up my mind, Ozpin." The assassin pulled out a Dust "You're going to _burn_ , Ozpin." He threw the vial at his feet before disappearing once again.

Ozpin looked at the broken glass. There wasn't any Red Dust. Just Gravity… _Wait…_

Bits of red started drifting down round the headmaster. Ozpin leapt into the air and formed a green sphere, but nothing happened, and he drifted back down. Instantly, Eskay reappeared above Ozpin, covered in a purple glow and rushing towards the headmaster. He threw his shield back up, stopping the assassin's sword inches from his face.

Eskay grinned. "Nice trick." He pulled out a matchstick. "Let's see if I can… 'match' it." The assassin lit the match and dropped it through the hole in Ozpin's barrier towards the red dust from earlier.

The headmaster dropped his shield and leapt past Eskay. The assassin tried to hit him, but was barely able to brush against him. Just as the match hit the ground, Ozpin reactivated his shield and braced himself for the explosion.

The match hit the ground, smoked a little, and went out.

Ozpin lowered his barrier to get a better look. "What-"

Before he could finish his thought, Eskay dashed into Ozpin, slashing the headmaster's side and landing on the far wall. The assassin kicked off and sliced through the remnants of Ozpin's shield and cutting his chest. Eskay jumped again and again, each strike making Ozpin slower and more sluggish. He struggled, and failed, to keep up.

After a barrage of attacks, Eskay readied himself for the final blow. With a mad gleam in his eye, the assassin dropped straight down to Ozpin. The headmaster raised his cane, halting Eskay's strike. Lines of green energy arced out from their weapons. Ozpin groaned in exertion and forced Eskay to the ground. He barely had time to recover before Ozpin rushed him, hitting him ten, twenty, fifty times. With a final, vicious swing, Eskay was launched across the arena. The assassin stayed down, his own blood staining his lips.

Ozpin looked himself over. His suit was ruined, he'd need stitches, and his clothes were covered in some sort of- "Decay Dust?"

Eskay tried to laugh through the blood pooling in his mouth. "Very good, Professor! Now, if only you could distinguish Red Dust from drink mix!"

Ozpin smiled and continued. "It reacts negatively to the Aura of anyone it comes into contact with, sapping their power for up to a minute. Therefore, those with more Aura will be more susceptible to it. The SDC has even declared that anyone who knew how to make Decay Dust would be incarcerated, as it is so dangerous."

Eskay rolled onto his stomach. "If only it had lasted a few seconds longer…" He got onto his hands and knees. His Beringel mask fell to the floor and shattered.

Ozpin approached the defeated assassin. "You put up an excellent fight. I suggest you-" He gasped. "By the Brothers..."

Eskay pulled himself to his feet. "Something the matter, Ozpin?" He grinned sadistically. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"How… No, why would somebody do this?"

Eskay wiped his blood off his face. "It was necessary for me to save Remnant. Or so they said."

Ozpin found his voice. "How long have you been… like this?"

"Seven years, man and boy," Eskay said with a hint of pride.

Ozpin's face twisted in disgust. "Who would do that to a child?"

Eskay let out a small laugh. "That's rich, coming from _you_."

The headmaster ignored that comment. "Surely you hate Crimsonite for doing this to you?"

Eskay shook his head. "The Director took me in when I had nowhere else to go. Before, I was nothing. Now I have purpose, a home, and strength enough to protect both of them. For that, I will lay down my life for him."

"You are dangerously misguided if you think you should place your trust in Director Crimsonite," Ozpin warned.

The assassin started cleaning his sword, not once breaking eye contact with the headmaster. "Well, compared to you, he's a saint."

Ozpin tightened his grip on his cane. "I think it's time you joined your team, Mister James."

"Already? But we were having so much fun!"

"Now, Mister James," Ozpin said sternly.

Eskay sighed. "So be it." He limped out of the arena without another word.

Once he was alone, Ozpin let out a shudder. What kind of monster was he dealing with?

 **Song: Glitter And Gold**

 **Artist: Barns Courtney**

 **Album: The Dull Drums**

* * *

 **Drakkar to English**

 _ **Mote**_ **-Sh*t**

 _ **Rent**_ **\- F*ck**

 _ **Raganko**_ **\- Teacher**

 _ **Pluanko**_ **\- Student**

* * *

 **Welp, this was a fun chapter to write. Next chapter has Neo, a.k.a. the greatest girl in RWBY. I think it'll be even more fun. Also, I'm looking for someone to draw my team. Please PM me if you're an artist that does commissions.**

 **But until then, this is FoxHunt5, signing off!**


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